Kikuchi scheduled to start for Seattle against Houston

Updated Aug. 20, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Seattle Mariners (66-56, third in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (71-50, first in the AL West)

Houston; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mariners: Yusei Kikuchi (7-6, 3.75 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 140 strikeouts) Astros: Lance McCullers Jr. (9-4, 3.22 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 136 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -194, Mariners +165; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston and Seattle will face off on Friday.

The Astros are 37-23 on their home turf. Houston has hit 157 home runs as a team this season. Jose Altuve leads the club with 25, averaging one every 17.8 at-bats.

The Mariners are 29-31 on the road. Seattle's lineup has 152 home runs this season, Mitch Haniger leads the club with 27 homers.

The Astros won the last meeting 11-4. Jake Odorizzi earned his fourth victory and Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-6 with a double, a home run and three RBIs for Houston. Yusei Kikuchi took his sixth loss for Seattle.

TOP PERFORMERS: Altuve leads the Astros with 25 home runs and has 67 RBIs.

Kyle Seager leads the Mariners with 48 extra base hits and 78 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .272 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by 13 runs

Mariners: 8-2, .227 batting average, 2.52 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Jose Urquidy: (arm), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Kyle Tucker: (covid-19), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).

Mariners: Justus Sheffield: (undisclosed), James Paxton: (left forearm), Ljay Newsome: (elbow), Andres Munoz: (elbow), Nick Margevicius: (shoulder), Ken Giles: (elbow), Justin Dunn: (shoulder), Shed Long Jr.: (shin), Kyle Lewis: (knee), Sam Haggerty: (shoulder), Evan White: (hip).

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