Astros play White Sox, look to build on Urquidy's solid outing

Updated Jun. 18, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Chicago White Sox (43-26, first in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (40-28, second in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: White Sox: Carlos Rodon (6-2, 1.89 ERA, .83 WHIP, 97 strikeouts) Astros: Luis Garcia (5-4, 2.84 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 72 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -106, White Sox -110; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Jose Urquidy. Urquidy threw seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts against Chicago.

The Astros are 23-13 on their home turf. Houston leads the American League in hitting with a .275 batting average, Michael Brantley leads the club with an average of .342.

The White Sox are 16-14 on the road. Chicago has a team on-base percentage of .336, good for second in the American League. Yoan Moncada leads the lineup with a mark of .400.

The Astros won the last meeting 10-2. Jose Urquidy notched his fifth victory and Abraham Toro went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs for Houston. Dylan Cease took his third loss for Chicago.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Altuve leads the Astros with 16 home runs and is slugging .521.

Tim Anderson leads the White Sox with 70 hits and has 25 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 8-2, .319 batting average, 3.24 ERA, outscored opponents by 35 runs

White Sox: 7-3, .247 batting average, 3.36 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Joe Smith: (undisclosed), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Josh James: (hip), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Bryan Abreu: (calf), Kyle Tucker: (health protocols), Aledmys Diaz: (hand), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).

White Sox: Michael Kopech: (hamstring), Jace Fry: (microdiscectomy), Jimmy Cordero: (tommy john surgery), Luis Robert: (hip), Eloy Jimenez: (left pectoral), Billy Hamilton: (oblique), Adam Eaton: (hamstring), Nick Madrigal: (hamstring).

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