Stripling expected to start for Toronto against Houston

Updated Jun. 5, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Houston Astros (32-25, second in the AL West) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (29-26, fourth in the AL East)

Buffalo, New York; Saturday, 3:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Jose Urquidy (4-2, 3.02 ERA, .99 WHIP, 42 strikeouts) Blue Jays: Ross Stripling (1-3, 5.11 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 39 strikeouts)

LINE: Blue Jays -106, Astros -110; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Toronto and Houston will face off on Saturday.

The Blue Jays are 12-12 in home games in 2020. Toronto ranks second in the MLB in hitting with a .258 batting average, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the club with an average of .330.

The Astros are 12-12 on the road. The Houston pitching staff has a combined team ERA of 3.70, Zack Greinke leads the staff with a mark of 3.38.

The Astros won the last meeting 13-1. Greinke earned his sixth victory and Carlos Correa went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs for Houston. Hyun Jin Ryu took his third loss for Toronto.

TOP PERFORMERS: Marcus Semien leads the Blue Jays with 65 hits and has 32 RBIs.

Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 11 home runs and is batting .251.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 6-4, .288 batting average, 4.18 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs

Astros: 6-4, .249 batting average, 3.51 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Kirby Yates: (tommy john surgery), David Phelps: (right lat), Patrick Murphy: (shoulder), Tommy Milone: (shoulder), Julian Merryweather: (left oblique), Tom Hatch: (elbow), A.J. Cole: (neck), Ryan Borucki: (forearm), Travis Bergen: (shoulder), George Springer: (quad), Cavan Biggio: (spine), Alejandro Kirk: (left hip flexor).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: (shoulder), Josh James: (hip), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Bryan Abreu: (calf), Michael Brantley: (hamstring), Jason Castro: (achilles).

___

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