Astros host Pirates in opener of three-game series

Pittsburgh Pirates (53-52, third in the NL Central) vs. Houston Astros (55-50, first in the AL West)

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

Pitching Probables: Pirates: Paul Skenes (6-1, 1.93 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 97 strikeouts); Astros: Jake Bloss (0-1, 6.94 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 11 strikeouts)

:LINE Pirates -153, Astros +129; over/under is 7 1/2 points

IN BRIEF: The Houston Astros host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday to begin a three-game series.

Houston is 55-50 overall and 30-22 at home. The Astros are 43-26 in games where they record eight or more hits.

Pittsburgh is 53-52 overall and 27-26 away. The Pirates have the sixth-best earned run average in the National League at 3.83.

Monday’s game is the first time these teams have met this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez had 25 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs and 54 RBIs for the Astros. Jeremy Pena had 14 hits in 38 at-bats with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games.

Connor Joe had 18 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 31 RBIs for the Pirates. Oneil Cruz had 13 hits in 40 at-bats with five doubles, a triple and three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .248 batting average, 3.83 ERA, balanced run differential

Pirates: 6-4, .252 batting average, 3.54 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: 15-day IL (neck), Cristian Javier: 60-day IL (forearm), Kyle Tucker: 10-day IL (shin), 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)

Pirates: Nick Gonzales: 10 days on injured reserve (undisclosed), Bailey Falter: 15 days on injured reserve (arm), Daulton Jefferies: 15 days on injured reserve (elbow), Jared Jones: 15 days on injured reserve (lat), Ryan Borucki: 60 days on injured reserve (triceps), Dauri Moreta: 60 days on injured reserve (elbow), Endy Rodriguez: 60 days on injured reserve (elbow), Johan Oviedo: 60 days on injured reserve (elbow)

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