Astros begin series at home against Los Angeles
Los Angeles Angels (75-78, fourth in AL West) vs. Houston Astros (95-57, first in AL West)
Houston; Friday, 8:10 p.m. Eastern
PROBABLE PITCHERS: Angels: Andrew Heaney (9-9, 3.97 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 165 strikeouts) Astros: Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.88 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 260 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Houston hosts Los Angeles to open the three-game series. The Astros come into the contest with a three and a half-game lead over the Athletics in the AL West. Houston has allowed just 2.1 runs per game in Cole's starts this season. The Angels have gone 14-14 in games started by Heaney. Los Angeles' lineup has 191 home runs this year, Mike Trout paces them with 36 homers. George Springer helped the Astros earn a 4-2 win when these two teams last met on Sept. 2. He went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
TOP PERFORMERS: Andrelton Simmons has 156 hits for the Angels this year. His .295 batting average is 13th in the American League. Justin Upton has four home runs and seven RBIs while slugging .667 over his past 10 games for Los Angeles. Alex Bregman has 30 home runs this season, 10th in the American League. Jose Altuve has 10 hits and is batting .286 over his past 10 games for Houston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Angels: 4-6, .205 batting average, 5.93 ERA, outscored by 32 runs. Astros: 6-4, .235 batting average, 4.12 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.