Orioles visit the Astros to begin 3-game series

Baltimore Orioles (46-51, fourth in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (47-51, third in the AL West)

Houston; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Orioles: Dean Kremer (1-2, 4.09 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 24 strikeouts); Astros: Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.14 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 81 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -112, Orioles -110; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros host the Baltimore Orioles on Friday to start a three-game series.

Houston is 47-51 overall and 23-24 in home games. The Astros have the eighth-ranked team on-base percentage in the AL at .316.

Baltimore is 18-26 in road games and 46-51 overall. The Orioles have a 22-8 record in games when they did not allow a home run.

The teams match up Friday for the fourth time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with a .318 batting average, and has 17 doubles, 31 home runs, 63 walks and 70 RBI. Isaac Paredes is 11 for 39 with a home run and four RBI over the past 10 games.

Taylor Ward has 19 doubles and six home runs for the Orioles. Samuel Basallo is 6 for 32 with four home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .242 batting average, 5.44 ERA, outscored by six runs

Orioles: 7-3, .246 batting average, 3.13 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs

INJURIES: Astros: Mike Burrows: 15-Day IL (elbow), Brice Matthews: day-to-day (knee), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kai-Wei Teng: 15-Day IL (knee), Carlos Correa: 60-Day IL (ankle), Brandon Walter: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ronel Blanco: 60-Day IL (elbow), Hayden Wesneski: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Orioles: Blaze Alexander: 10-Day IL (hand), Keegan Akin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Zach Eflin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Bassitt: 15-Day IL (back), Ryan Mountcastle: 60-Day IL (foot), Ryan Helsley: 15-Day IL (elbow), Felix Bautista: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Colin Selby: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jordan Westburg: 60-Day IL (ucl)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.