The Astros face the Twins in the first of a 3-game series

Minnesota Twins (31-25, third in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (25-32, third in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Pablo Lopez (4-5, 5.25 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 69 strikeouts); Astros: Ronel Blanco (5-0, 1.99 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 51 strikeouts)

: LINE Astros -112, Twins -107; over/under = 8 races

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros host the Minnesota Twins on Friday to open a three-game series.

Houston is 14-15 in home games and 25-32 overall. The Astros have the third-highest team slugging percentage in the AL at .412.

Minnesota is 15-12 on the road and 31-25 overall. The Twins are 10-4 in games decided by one run.

Friday’s match is the first meeting this season between the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez has 11 doubles and nine homers for the Astros. Kyle Tucker is 6 for 36 with three homers over the last 10 games.

Ryan Jeffers has 12 homers, 14 walks and 36 RBIs while hitting .254 for the Twins. Jose Miranda is 10-for-35 with a double, two homers and seven RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .234 batting average, 3.06 ERA, opponents scored by two runs

Twins: 7-3, .245 batting average, 3.94 ERA, even run differential

INJURIES: Astros: 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)

Twins: Justin Topa: 60 day IL (knee), Brock Stewart: 15 day IL (shoulder), Daniel Duarte: 60 day IL (triceps), Zack Weiss: 60 day IL (shoulder), Royce Lewis: 10 -Day IL (quadriceps), Anthony DeSclafani: 60 days IL (elbow)

——

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