Slumping Astros look to break 5-game skid

Houston Astros (6-6) vs. Seattle Mariners (8-5)

Seattle; Friday, 10:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Jose Urquidy (0-1, 5.23 ERA) Mariners: Yusei Kikuchi (0-0, 3.75 ERA)

LINE: Mariners +101, Astros -117; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros enter the matchup as losers of their last five games.

The Mariners finished 20-20 against AL West Division opponents in 2020. Seattle batted .226 as a team last season and hit 60 total home runs.

The Astros went 19-21 in division play in 2020. Houston hit .240 as a team with 3.1 extra base hits per game and 12 total triples last year.

The teams meet for the first time this year.

INJURIES: Mariners: James Paxton: (left forearm), Andres Munoz: (elbow), Anthony Misiewicz: (undisclosed), Ken Giles: (elbow), Kyle Lewis: (knee), Jake Fraley: (left hamstring), Shed Long Jr.: (shin).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Framber Valdez: (finger), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (right side), Josh James: (hip), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Yordan Alvarez: (health and safety protocols), Robel Garcia: (health and safety protocols), Alex Bregman: (health and safety protocols), Jose Altuve: (health and safety protocols), Martin Maldonado: (health and safety protocols).

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