Houston visits Los Angeles, looks to build on Greinke's solid performance
Houston Astros (104-54, first in the AL West) vs. Los Angeles Angels (71-87, fourth in the AL West)
Anaheim, California; Friday, 10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Jose Urquidy (1-1, 4.63 ERA) Angels: Patrick Sandoval (0-3, 5.25 ERA)
BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into the matchup after a dominant performance by Zack Greinke. Greinke pitched 8 1/3 innings, surrendering zero runs on two hits with nine strikeouts against Seattle.
The Angels are 29-43 against teams from the AL West. Los Angeles hitters have posted a team on-base percentage of .323 this season, led by Mike Trout with a mark of .427.
The Astros have gone 53-19 against division opponents. Houston's team on-base percentage of .350 leads the American League. Alex Bregman leads the lineup with an OBP of .419. The Astros won the last meeting 13-5. Justin Verlander earned his 20th victory and George Springer went 3-for-5 with three home runs and four RBIs for Houston. Jose Rodriguez took his first loss for Los Angeles.
TOP PERFORMERS: David Fletcher leads the Angels with 170 hits and is batting .294. Kaleb Cowart is 4-for-12 with three doubles and an RBI over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.
Bregman leads the Astros with 79 extra base hits and is batting .298. Springer is 6-for-32 with four home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Houston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Angels: 4-6, .245 batting average, 5.44 ERA, outscored by 21 runs
Astros: 9-1, .259 batting average, 2.30 ERA, outscored opponents by 33 runs
Angels Injuries: Felix Pena: (knee), Griffin Canning: (elbow), Cam Bedrosian: (forearm), Justin Upton: (knee), Mike Trout: (foot), Luis Rengifo: (hand), Tommy La Stella: (tibia), Zack Cozart: (shoulder), Shohei Ohtani: (knee), Max Stassi: (hip).
Astros Injuries: Aaron Sanchez: (pectoral), Collin McHugh: (undisclosed), Lance McCullers Jr.: (elbow), Carlos Correa: (back).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.