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Boston looks to finish off Houston in Game 5

Boston Red Sox (108-54, first in AL East) vs. Houston Astros (103-59, first in AL West)

Houston; Thursday, 8:09 p.m. Eastern

ALCS: Red Sox lead 3-1

PROBABLE PITCHERS: Red Sox: TBD Astros: Justin Verlander (16-9, 2.52 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 290 strikeouts in regular season)

BOTTOM LINE: Boston leads the series 3-1 and will look to advance to the World Series with a win at Minute Maid Park. Houston gives up 1.9 runs per game when Verlander takes the hill. The Red Sox are 21-12 against teams in the AL West this season. Boston has a collective .268 batting average on the season, led by Mookie Betts' .346 mark. The Red Sox won Wednesday's contest 8-6.

TOP PERFORMERS: J.D. Martinez has 42 home runs this season, second in the American League. Brock Holt has two home runs and 10 RBIs while slugging .703 over his past 10 games for Boston. Alex Bregman is hitting .287 with 170 hits and 31 home runs in 156 games this year for the Astros. George Springer has five home runs and 10 RBIs while slugging .825 over his past 10 games for Houston.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.

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