Astros take 3-game slide into matchup with Yankees

Houston Astros (15-15, third in the AL West) vs. New York Yankees (16-14, second in the AL East)

New York; Thursday, 1:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Lance McCullers Jr. (2-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 30 strikeouts) Yankees: Gerrit Cole (4-1, 1.43 ERA, .72 WHIP, 62 strikeouts)

LINE: Yankees -198, Astros +171; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston enters the game as losers of their last three games.

The Yankees are 9-7 on their home turf. New York's team on-base percentage of .320 is sixth in the majors. DJ LeMahieu leads the team with an OBP of .375.

The Astros have gone 8-8 away from home. Houston has a team on-base percentage of .313, good for fourth in the American League. Yuli Gurriel leads the club with a mark of .418.

The Yankees won the last meeting 6-3. Jonathan Loaisiga earned his third victory and Giancarlo Stanton went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI for New York. Brooks Raley registered his second loss for Houston.

TOP PERFORMERS: Stanton leads the Yankees with 13 extra base hits and is batting .314.

Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with five home runs home runs and is slugging .359.

LAST 10 GAMES: Yankees: 7-3, .262 batting average, 2.54 ERA, outscored opponents by 25 runs

Astros: 5-5, .240 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

INJURIES: Yankees: Luis Severino: (elbow), Clarke Schmidt: (right elbow), Darren O'Day: (right rotator cuff), Zack Britton: (elbow), Luke Voit: (knee), Rougned Odor: (knee).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Framber Valdez: (finger), Blake Taylor: (ankle), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (right side), Jake Odorizzi: (right pronator muscle), Josh James: (hip), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder).

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