Houston hosts Cleveland, aims to build on Verlander's solid showing
Cleveland Indians (13-10, second in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (15-9, first in the AL West)
Houston; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Indians: Trevor Bauer (2-1, 2.20 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 42 strikeouts) Astros: Gerrit Cole (2-3, 5.22 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 44 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: The Astros are 8-1 on their home turf. Houston leads the league in hitting with a .280 batting average, Josh Reddick leads the team with an average of .386.
The Indians are 6-6 on the road. Cleveland has slugged .326, last in in the MLB. Carlos Santana leads the team with a .446 slugging percentage, including six extra-base hits. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Carlos Correa leads the Astros with 13 extra base hits and is batting .268. Alex Bregman is 10-for-35 with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Houston.
Santana leads the Indians with 25 hits and is batting .338. Roberto Perez is 8-for-34 with two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs over the last 10 games for Cleveland.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .269 batting average, 4.03 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
Indians: 5-5, .237 batting average, 4.50 ERA
Astros Injuries: Joe Smith: 10-day IL (achilles), Lance McCullers Jr.: 10-day IL (elbow).
Indians Injuries: Danny Salazar: 60-day IL (shoulder), Mike Clevinger: 60-day IL (back), Carlos Carrasco: day-to-day (knee), Bradley Zimmer: 10-day IL (shoulder).
