Rangers at Astros
Jose Altuve appears unlikely to play due to a hamstring injury when the Houston Astros attempt to defeat the visiting Texas Rangers for the third straight night on Saturday. Altuve departed Friday's 3-0 victory in the first inning after beating out a grounder for an infield single.
A three-time American League batting champion, Altuve is off to a slow start with a .243 average, and his woes continued when he felt discomfort in the hamstring while running down the first-base line. "He felt a little tightness ... he looked a little uncomfortable," Houston manager A.J. Hinch told reporters of Altuve after the team posted its sixth win in seven games. "It doesn't seem serious. We don't know the extent of the injury until we get to (Saturday)." The Rangers have recorded just two runs and five hits while losing the first two games of the series and have dropped six of their last nine overall contests. Asdrubal Cabrera has notched two of the five hits and Hunter Pence's two-run homer on Thursday supplied the only runs as Texas hitters have struck out 10 times in both of the setbacks.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Jesse Chavez (0-1, 7.27 ERA) vs. Astros RH Gerrit Cole (3-4, 4.17)
Chavez is making his first "start" of the season after 16 relief appearances and will depart the game after one inning. Left-hander Drew Smyly (0-2, 6.63 ERA), who has totaled just 19 innings in his five starts but has registered 24 strikeouts, will replace Chavez. Smyly is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two starts versus the Astros this season and 1-3 with a 5.48 ERA in seven career appearances (five starts) against them.
Cole was ripped for nine runs - eight earned - and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of a loss to Texas on April 20 and also fell to the Rangers on April 3, when he allowed three runs and four hits over six frames. The 28-year-old, who leads the majors with 74 strikeouts, is 3-2 with a 4.04 ERA in seven career outings against the Rangers. Cole defeated Kansas City in his last turn despite giving up four runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Astros OF Jake Marisnick, 1B Yuli Gurriel and C Robinson Chirinos each hit a solo homer in Friday's victory.
2. Texas 2B Rougned Odor is hitless in six at-bats in the series and just 5-for-48 with 22 strikeouts in his last 12 games.
3. Houston SS Carlos Correa struck out in all three at-bats on Friday and is 1-for-13 in four contests since his career-high 16-game hitting streak ended.