By The
Associated Press

Houston Astros (29-31, second in the AL West) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (40-20, first in the AL East)

San Diego; Sunday, 7:37 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Houston: Framber Valdez (5-3, 3.57 ERA in regular season) Tampa Bay: Blake Snell (4-2, 3.24 ERA in regular season)

LINE: Rays favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay will host Houston in Game 1 of the ALCS.

The Rays are 20-9 in home games. Tampa Bay has a team batting average of .217 this postseason, Randy Arozarena has lead them with an average of .444, including six extra base hits and four RBIs.

The Astros have gone 9-23 away from home. Houston has a team on-base percentage of .353 this postseason, Carlos Correa leads them with an OBP of .615, including four extra base hits and 12 RBIs.

REGULAR SEASON TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Lowe leads the Rays with 14 home runs and has 37 RBIs.

Kyle Tucker leads the Astros with 27 extra base hits and is slugging .512.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 8-2, .233 batting average, 2.72 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runsAstros: 4-6, .235 batting average, 3.96 ERA, outscored by four runs

INJURIES: Rays: Chaz Roe: (elbow), Cody Reed: (finger), Colin Poche: (elbow), Andrew Kittredge: (elbow), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Jose Alvarado: (shoulder).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (forearm), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Brad Peacock: (shoulder), Roberto Osuna: (right elbow), Chris Devenski: (elbow), Rogelio Armenteros: (undisclosed), Bryan Abreu: (undisclosed), Yordan Alvarez: (knee).

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

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