White Sox take on the Astros in first of 3-game series

Houston Astros (16-14, second in the AL West) vs. Chicago White Sox (8-23, fifth in the AL Central)

Chicago; Friday, 7:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Framber Valdez (1-3, 4.00 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 31 strikeouts); White Sox: Jonathan Cannon (1-3, 4.50 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 27 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -239, White Sox +195; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Chicago White Sox host the Houston Astros on Friday to begin a three-game series.

Chicago has a 5-10 record at home and an 8-23 record overall. The White Sox have the 10th-ranked team ERA in the AL at 4.06.

Houston has a 16-14 record overall and a 5-7 record in road games. The Astros have a 5-1 record in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two clubs.

TOP PERFORMERS: Miguel Vargas has six doubles and two home runs for the White Sox. Luis Robert is 9-for-39 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.

Jose Altuve has three doubles, four home runs and 14 RBI for the Astros. Christian Walker is 10-for-38 with three doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: White Sox: 3-7, .245 batting average, 3.42 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs

Astros: 6-4, .263 batting average, 2.35 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs

INJURIES: White Sox: Gage Workman: 10-Day IL (hip), Martin Perez: 60-Day IL (forearm), Austin Slater: 10-Day IL (knee), Michael Tauchman: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Korey Lee: 10-Day IL (ankle), Drew Thorpe: 60-Day IL (elbow), Josh Rojas: 10-Day IL (toe), Prelander Berroa: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ky Bush: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jesse Scholtens: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Astros: Forrest Whitley: 15-Day IL (knee), Spencer Arrighetti: 15-Day IL (thumb), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shawn Dubin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Taylor Trammell: 10-Day IL (calf), Pedro Leon: 10-Day IL (knee), Lance McCullers: 15-Day IL (forearm)

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