Houston Astros (87-73, first in the AL West) vs. Cleveland Guardians (92-68, first in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Saturday, 6:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABILITIES: Astros: Justin Verlander (4-6, 5.55 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 69 strikeouts); Guard: Ben Lively (13-9, 3.80 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 114 strikeouts)

: LINE Guardians -117, Astros -103; Over/Under is 8 runs

Conclusion: The Houston Astros take a 1-0 lead in the next game of the series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland is 92-68 overall and 50-29 at home. The Guardians are 66-9 in games in which they scored at least five runs.

Houston has a 41-38 away record and an 87-73 record overall. The Astros have a record of 69-37 in games in which they record at least eight hits.

Saturday’s game will be the fifth meeting between these teams this season. The Astros have a 3-1 lead in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads Cleveland with 38 home runs while batting .530. Kyle Manzardo is 8 for 26 with three home runs and five RBI in the last 10 games.

Yordan Alvarez has 34 doubles, two triples and 35 home runs for the Astros. Kyle Tucker is 15 for 38 with a double and three home runs in the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 6-4, .236 batting average, 2.20 ERA, seven runs better than opponents

Astros: 6-4, .263 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored by two runs

INJURIES: Caregivers: Alex Cobb: 15-day IL (finger), Sam Hentges: 60-day IL (shoulder), Shane Bieber: 60-day IL (elbow), Trevor Stephan: 60-day IL (elbow ), James Karinchak: 60-day IL (shoulder)

Astros: Yordan Alvarez: day-to-day (knee), Ben Gamel: 10-day IL (knee), Chas McCormick: 10-day IL (wrist), JP France: 60-day IL (undisclosed), Cristian Javier: 60-day IL (forearm), Jose Urquidy: 60-day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee : 60-day IL (elbow). ), Luis Garcia: 60-day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press produced this story using technology and data from Sportradar provided by Data Skrive.