Astros face Cardinals with 1-0 series lead

St. Louis Cardinals (28-30, third in the NL Central) vs. Houston Astros (27-34, third in the AL West)

Houston; Tuesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Andre Pallante (1-1, 3.94 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 10 strikeouts); Astros: Spencer Arrighetti (3-5, 5.98 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 51 strikeouts)

: LINE Astros -148, Cardinals +126; over/under = 9 races

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros take a 1-0 advantage into the final game of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Houston is 16-17 in home games and 27-34 overall. The Astros are 22-2 in games when they have scored at least five runs.

St. Louis is 15-18 in road games and 28-30 overall. The Cardinals have gone 18-8 in games when recording eight or more hits.

The teams play Tuesday for the second time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 30 extra-base hits (11 doubles and 19 homers). Alex Bregman is 13 for 40 with a double, a triple, five homers and eight RBIs over the last 10 games.

Masyn Winn leads the Cardinals with a .297 batting average and has 11 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 15 walks and 19 RBIs. Nolan Gorman is 13 for 35 with six homers and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .221 batting average, 2.89 ERA, one-run opponents

Cardinals: 6-4, .243 batting average, 2.90 ERA, even run differential

INJURIES: Astros: Kyle Tucker: Everyday (shin), Cristian Javier: 15-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), Jose Urquidy: 15-day IL (forearm), Kendall Graveman: 60-day IL (elbow)

Cardinals: Lars Nootbaar: 10-day IL (oblique), Nick Robertson: 15-day IL (elbow), Riley O’Brien: 60-day IL (forearm), Willson Contreras: 10-day IL (arm), Giovanny Gallegos: IL of 15 days (shoulder), Tommy Edman: IL of 60 days (wrist), Steven Matz: IL of 15 days (back), Drew Rom: IL of 60 days (biceps), Keynan Middleton: IL of 15 days (forearm )

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