The Pittsburgh Pirates will take on the Houston Astros Tuesday night.
Pittsburgh Pirates (36-40, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Houston Astros (49-30, first in the NL West)
Houston; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Trevor Williams (2-1, 4.12 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 49 strikeouts) Astros: Gerrit Cole (6-5, 3.54 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 148 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh enters the matchup as winners of their last four games.
The Astros are 27-11 in home games. The Houston pitching staff owns a team ERA of 3.72, Justin Verlander paces the staff with a mark of 2.75.
The Pirates are 19-21 on the road. Pittsburgh ranks seventh in the MLB in hitting with a .263 batting average, Bryan Reynolds leads the club with an average of .367. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Brantley leads the Astros with 95 hits and has 43 RBIs. Tyler White is 9-for-33 with six doubles, a home run and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Houston.
Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 91 hits and has 66 RBIs. Reynolds is 17-for-37 with four doubles, a home run and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 3-7, .279 batting average, 5.21 ERA, outscored by one run
Pirates: 6-4, .306 batting average, 4.45 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs
Astros Injuries: Joe Smith: 10-day IL (achilles), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-day IL (elbow), Aledmys Diaz: 10-day IL (hamstring), Carlos Correa: 10-day IL (rib).
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Jordan Lyles: 10-day IL (hamstring), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: 60-day IL (shoulder), Rookie Davis: 10-day IL (finger), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Gregory Polanco: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 60-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Francisco Cervelli: 10-day IL (concussion).
