The Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros face off in Game 2 of the series

Pittsburgh Pirates (54-52, second in the NL Central) vs. Houston Astros (55-51, first in the AL West)

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

Pitching Probables: Pirates: Bailey Falter (4-7, 4.08 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 61 strikeouts); Astros: Hunter Brown (9-6, 4.00 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 118 strikeouts)

IN BRIEF: The Pittsburgh Pirates take a 1-0 lead into their next game of the series against the Houston Astros.

Houston is 55-51 overall and 30-23 at home. The Astros are 45-16 in games where they have more hits than their opponents.

Pittsburgh is 28-26 on the road and 54-52 overall. The Pirates are 34-7 in games where they have scored five or more points.

Tuesday’s game is the second time these teams have faced each other this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez had 25 doubles, two triples and 20 home runs for the Astros. Yainer Diaz had 12 hits in 38 at-bats with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games.

Bryan Reynolds is Pittsburgh’s leading hitter with 18 home runs and a .483 batting average. Oneil Cruz is 12-for-39 with three home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .257 batting average, 3.93 ERA, balanced run differential

Pirates: 6-4, .236 batting average, 3.34 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

INJURIES: Astros: Jake Bloss: Day to day (undisclosed), Justin Verlander: 15 days on injured list (neck), Cristian Javier: 60 days on injured list (forearm), Kyle Tucker: 10 days on injured list (shin), Jose Urquidy: 60 days on injured list (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60 days on injured list (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60 days on injured list (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60 days on injured list (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60 days on injured list (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60 days on injured list (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60 days on injured list (elbow)

Pirates: Joshua Palacios: Day to day (hamstring), Ji-Hwan Bae: Day to day (knee), Nick Gonzales: 10 days on injured list (undisclosed), Daulton Jefferies: 15 days on injured list (elbow), Jared Jones: 15 days on injured list (lat), Ryan Borucki: 60 days on injured list (triceps), Dauri Moreta: 60 days on injured list (elbow), Endy Rodriguez: 60 days on injured list (elbow), Johan Oviedo: 60 days on injured list (elbow)

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

The Associated Press