Astros' Justin Verlander and Alex Bregman return for finale against Red Sox
BACK IN THE SADDLE
21 August 2024
Justin Verlander is finally back on the hill for Houston. Composite Getty Image.
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.
The Astros against Cooper Criswell: Bregman DH, Alvarez 7, Diaz 3, Peña 6, Caratini 2, Meyers 8, Dubón 4, Whitcomb 5, McCormick 9
Verlander RHP
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) August 21, 2024
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)
Marcus Semien hit his 250th career home run and Adolis García also went deep to back up a strong start by Nathan Eovaldi and give the Texas Rangers a 5-1, series clinching victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Eovaldi (7-3) limited Houston to five hits and a run with eight strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings for his third straight win.
Houston starter Hunter Brown (9-4) allowed five hits and four runs while striking out eight in five innings as the AL West leaders lost for the fifth time in six games. It was the second straight tough outing for the All-Star, who gave up a season-high six runs in his last start against Cleveland.
Wyatt Langford walked to open the second and the Rangers made it 1-0 when he scored on a triple by Evan Carter. There were two outs in the inning when Carter scored on a ground-rule double by Ezequiel Duran to push the lead to 2-0.García’s third homer in the last four games put Texas ahead 3-0 with two outs in the third inning.
Carter doubled to start the fourth and Kyle Higashioka singled before Carter scored on a sacrifice fly by Alejandro Osuna to make it 4-0.
The Astros cut it to 4-1 on a home run by Zack Short with no outs in the sixth inning.
Semien’s shot with one out in the eighth inning was his second of the series and gave him 250 in his 13-year career.
Key moment
Texas jumping on Brown for two runs in the second inning to take the lead for good.
Key stat
García’s 20 home runs against the Astros since 2021 are the most of any player in that span.
Up next
The Astros open the second half of the season Friday night at Seattle, and the Rangers host Detroit on the same night.
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