Astros' Justin Verlander and Alex Bregman return for finale against Red Sox

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Astros Justin Verlander, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman
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.

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)

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A's defeat the Astros, 4-3. Composite image by Jack Brame.

Zack Gelof homered early, Max Schuemann and Nick Allen drove in runs with 12th-inning bunts and the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros 4-3 on Tuesday night.

With the score 2-2, Daz Cameron’s bunt single to start the 12th sent Gelof, the automatic runner, to third.

Schuemann then bunted to Héctor Neris (9-5), who spiked his throw home as Gelof scored on the sacrifice. Cameron to move to third on the error as the ball rolled in the field.

With runners at the corners, Allen bunted into a forceout that scored Cameron for a 4-2 lead.

Jose Altuve hit an RBI double leading off the bottom half off Hogan Harris (4-3), who retired the next three batters.

Bryan Abreu struck out the side in the 11th for Houston.

Houston had a runner on third with two outs in the 10th when Jeremy Peña hit a fly ball to right field. But Cameron made a diving catch to rob him of a hit and end the inning.

Jacob Wilson’s sacrifice bunt sent the automatic runner to third to start the 10th before Abreu struck out the next two batters.

Altuve singled off Scott Alexander with two outs in the ninth before Yordan Alvarez sent him to third on a groundball single that rolled just past diving second baseman Gelof. But Alexander struck out Tucker to send it to extra innings.

The Astros had a runner on first trailing with one out in the seventh when pinch-hitter Jon Singleton hit his first career triple off the wall in left-center to cut the lead to 2-1. Pinch-runner Jason Heyward took over for him and scored when Altuve hit a bloop single to shallow center field to tie it.

Oakland starter JP Sears allowed four hits and walked two in six scoreless innings.

Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti tied a season high by allowing seven hits with two runs in 6 2/3 innings. It was his first start since he permitted nine runs — three earned — while getting just two outs in a 12-5 loss to the Reds.

Brent Rooker hit a one-out single in the first and moved to third on a single by J.J. Bleday. The Athletics took the lead when Rooker scored on a sacrifice fly by Shea Langeliers.

Oakland extended the lead to 2-0 when Gelof sent the first pitch of the second inning to the train tracks atop left field for his 17th homer this season.

Trainer’s Room

Athletics: RHP Osvaldo Bido, who was scheduled to start Tuesday’s game, was instead placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Sunday, with right wrist flexor tendonitis. … LHP Brady Basso and 1B/OF Ryan Noda were recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas and INF Tristan Gray was optioned to Las Vegas. … OF Miguel Andujar had core muscle surgery Tuesday with Dr. William Meyers at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia. He will return to Oakland to begin rehabilitation.

Astros: OF Chas McCormick left in the middle of the fifth with right wrist discomfort.

Up Next

Houston RHP Hunter Brown (11-7, 3.41 ERA) opposes RHP Joey Estes (6-7, 4.46) when the series continues Wednesday night.

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