Astros host Tigers to begin 3-game series

Detroit Tigers (33-35, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (31-38, third in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Tigers: Tarik Skubal (8-1, 1.92 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 96 strikeouts); Astros: Hunter Brown (2-5, 5.58 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 67 strikeouts)

: LINE Astros -112, Tigers -107; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros begin a three-game home series against the Detroit Tigers on Friday.

Houston is 17-18 at home and 31-38 overall. The Astros hit 85 home runs overall to rank third in the AL.

Detroit is 33-35 overall and 17-16 on the road. The Tigers are 14-2 in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The teams will face off on Friday for the fourth time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Altuve has a .294 batting average to lead the Astros, and has 12 doubles and 10 homers. Yordan Alvarez is 14 for 40 with three homers and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games.

Riley Greene has 14 doubles, two triples and 12 homers for the Tigers. Gio Urshela is 12-for-36 with two doubles and a home run over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .262 batting average, 3.67 ERA, opponents scored by 11 runs

Tigers: 5-5, .217 batting average, 3.66 ERA, led by two runs

INJURIES: Astros: Kyle Tucker: 10-day IL (shin), Jose Urquidy: 60-day IL (forearm), Cristian Javier: 15-day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa : 60 days IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60 days IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60 days IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60 days IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60 days IL (elbow)

Tigers: Javier Baez: 10-day IL (spine), Alex Faedo: 15-day IL (hip), Kerry Carpenter: 10-day IL (spine), Sawyer Gipson-Long: 60-day IL (groin)

——

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