Astros aim to sweep series against the Nationals

Washington Nationals (26-40, fifth in the NL East) vs. Houston Astros (39-29, second in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: MacKenzie Gore (3-5, 4.04 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 83 strikeouts); Astros: Cristian Javier (7-1, 3.13 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 74 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Astros -215, Nationals +180; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros meet the Washington Nationals looking to sweep their three-game series.

Houston is 20-14 at home and 39-29 overall. The Astros have an 18-6 record in games when they did not allow a home run.

Washington has a 26-40 record overall and a 14-19 record in road games. The Nationals have a 17-32 record in games when they have given up a home run.

The teams square off Thursday for the third time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alex Bregman has eight doubles, a triple and nine home runs for the Astros. Mauricio Dubon is 15-for-47 with four doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Jeimer Candelario has 17 doubles, two triples and eight home runs for the Nationals. Keibert Ruiz is 9-for-38 with a double and three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .239 batting average, 3.30 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs

Nationals: 2-8, .238 batting average, 5.85 ERA, outscored by 23 runs

INJURIES: Astros: Jeremy Pena: day-to-day (illness), Yordan Alvarez: 10-Day IL (oblique), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jose Urquidy: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Michael Brantley: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Lance McCullers Jr.: 15-Day IL (elbow)

Nationals: Victor Robles: 10-Day IL (back), Israel Pineda: 10-Day IL (finger), Stephen Strasburg: 60-Day IL (ribs/shoulder), Tanner Rainey: 60-Day IL (elbow), Victor Arano: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Cade Cavalli: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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