Gurriel looks to keep rolling as Astros face Angels
Los Angeles Angels (75-79, fourth in AL West) vs. Houston Astros (96-57, first in AL West)
Houston; Saturday, 7:10 p.m. Eastern
PROBABLE PITCHERS: Angels: Jaime Barria (10-9, 3.61 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 91 strikeouts) Astros: Justin Verlander (16-9, 2.67 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 269 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Houston has Yuli Gurriel to thank for a chunk of the team's offensive production over the last week. He's batting .417 with 10 hits and two home runs in that span. The Astros enter the contest with a three and a half-game lead over the Athletics in the AL West. Houston has allowed just 2.0 runs per game in Verlander's starts this year. The Angels will try to end a three-game skid. Los Angeles' lineup has 194 home runs this season, Mike Trout paces them with 37 homers. In Friday's game, the Astros defeated the Angels 11-3. Gerrit Cole got the win for Houston, his 15th on the season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Justin Upton has 30 home runs and 84 RBIs in 139 games for the Angels. Jose Fernandez has eight hits, six RBIs and two home runs over his past 10 games for Los Angeles. Alex Bregman has 102 runs and 100 RBIs for the Astros this year. Jose Altuve has 10 hits and is batting .278 over his past 10 games for Houston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Angels: 4-6, .201 batting average, 6.62 ERA, outscored by 37 runs. Astros: 7-3, .235 batting average, 3.80 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.