Astros and Rangers square off in ALCS Game 1

Texas Rangers (90-72, second in the AL West during the regular season) vs. Houston Astros (90-72, first in the AL West during the regular season)

Houston; Sunday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Jordan Montgomery (10-11, 3.20 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 166 strikeouts); Astros: Justin Verlander (13-8, 3.22 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 144 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers take the field in Game 1 of the ALCS.

Houston is 90-72 overall and 39-42 in home games. The Astros have the eighth-best team ERA in the majors at 3.94.

Texas has a 40-41 record in road games and a 90-72 record overall. Rangers hitters have a collective .452 slugging percentage to rank third in the majors.

Sunday's game is the 14th meeting between these teams this season. The Astros have a 9-4 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Tucker has 37 doubles, five triples and 29 home runs while hitting .284 for the Astros. Yordan Alvarez is 13-for-39 with three doubles and six home runs over the past 10 games.

Marcus Semien has 40 doubles, four triples, 29 home runs and 100 RBI for the Rangers. Adolis Garcia is 12-for-41 with two doubles, four home runs and eight RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 8-2, .265 batting average, 2.33 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs

Rangers: 7-3, .231 batting average, 2.48 ERA, outscored opponents by 20 runs

INJURIES: Astros: Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Rangers: Jon Gray: 15-Day IL (forearm), Ian Kennedy: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (triceps ), Brad Miller: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Jacob deGrom: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Odorizzi: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brett Martin: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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