Boston Red Sox (66-59, third in the AL East) vs. Houston Astros (68-57, first in the AL West)

Houston; Wednesday, 2:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Cooper Criswell (5-4, 4.56 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 57 strikeouts); Astros: Justin Verlander (0-0)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Astros -111, Red Sox -109; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox take on the Houston Astros after Jarren Duran had four hits on Tuesday in a 6-5 win over the Astros.

Houston has a 35-28 record at home and a 68-57 record overall. The Astros have gone 53-29 in games when they record eight or more hits.

Boston is 66-59 overall and 37-27 on the road. The Red Sox rank fifth in MLB play with 159 total home runs, averaging 1.3 per game.

The matchup Wednesday is the sixth time these teams match up this season. The Astros hold a 4-1 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads Houston with 25 home runs while slugging .552. Alex Bregman is 16-for-45 with five home runs and eight RBI over the last 10 games.

Duran has 38 doubles, 13 triples and 17 home runs for the Red Sox. Masataka Yoshida is 13-for-32 with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 8-2, .263 batting average, 2.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs

Red Sox: 5-5, .266 batting average, 5.35 ERA, outscored by four runs

Today's lineup has Bregman returning as the DH and Jose Altuve getting the day off.

INJURIES: Astros: J.P. France: 60-Day IL (undisclosed), Ryan Pressly: 15-Day IL (back), Alex Bregman: day-to-day (elbow), Kyle Tucker: 60-Day IL (shin), Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (neck), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (forearm), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Red Sox: Cam Booser: 15-Day IL (elbow), James Paxton: 15-Day IL (leg), Bryan Mata: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (elbow), Garrett Whitlock: 60-Day IL (oblique), Trevor Story: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lucas Giolito: 60-Day IL (elbow)