Boston will play Houston in the opening game of the ALCS
Boston Red Sox (92-70, second in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (95-67, first in the AL West)
Houston; Friday, 8:07 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: TBD Astros: Framber Valdez (0-0, 3.14 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 125 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -139, Red Sox +121; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Framber Valdez and Houston will face Boston in Game 1 of the ALCS.
The Astros were 51-30 on their home turf in 2021. Houston has a team slugging percentage of .432 this postseason, Kyle Tucker leads them with a mark of .706, including three extra base hits and seven RBIs.
The Red Sox were 43-38 on the road in 2021. Boston has a team slugging percentage of .547 this postseason, Kike Hernandez leads them with a mark of .826, including five extra base hits and six RBIs.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 70 extra base hits and is slugging .558.
Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 115 RBIs and is batting .281.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .222 batting average, 5.09 ERA, outscored by 15 runs
Red Sox: 5-5, .255 batting average, 4.40 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (shoulder), Freudis Nova: (knee), Taylor Jones: (covid-19).
Red Sox: Phillips Valdez: (covid-19).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.