Texas @ Houston Game Overview

Houston, which will host the Texas Rangers in a three-game series starting Friday night to close the first half of the season, remains saddled by injuries.

The Astros suffered a three-game sweep to the Guardians with four position players unavailable: designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (hand), All-Star shortstop Jeremy Pena (ribs), center fielder Jake Meyers (calf), and first baseman Christian Walker (paternity list).

Paredes has filled the void Pena left atop the order when he was sidelined, and has done so ably, slashing .286/.364/.571 with four home runs and seven RBIs in 12 games batting leadoff.

"When I put Paredes there, it was his ability to see pitches," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "I want him to get a ton of at-bats. If we could start the game 1-0 with a swing of the bat, I want that."

Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3, 5.82 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Astros on Friday. He snapped a two-start skid by allowing one run on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts over six innings in an 18-1 road victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Friday.

McCullers has walked four batters in three consecutive starts. Before beating the Dodgers, he surrendered 12 earned runs over 8 1/3 innings in back-to-back losses to the Chicago White Sox and Cubs. McCullers has recorded a decision (2-2, 5.75 ERA) in his last four appearances.

He is 1-4 with a 3.52 ERA over 13 career starts against the Rangers. He did not factor into the decision of a 6-3 road victory over Texas on May 16 after allowing two unearned runs on four hits and one walk with two strikeouts over four innings in his third start of the season.

Right-hander Jack Leiter (4-6, 4.32 ERA) is the scheduled starter for the Rangers on Friday. He is winless over his last six starts (0-4, 5.40 ERA) after allowing two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings in a 4-1 loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Leiter had worked fewer than four innings only once this season. The Rangers have dropped his last six starts.

Leiter did not factor into the decision of a 4-3 home loss to the Astros on May 18 after allowing three runs on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts over seven innings. That marked his first career appearance against Houston.

The Rangers improved to 3-4 on their season-long 10-game road trip with an 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. Texas split the four-game series and remained unbeaten (4-0-1) in its last five series in Anaheim, Calif., and has gained 1 1/2 games on the AL West-leading Astros this week.

One night after the offense gave Texas manager Bruce Bochy "everything we would want" in an 11-8 loss to the Angels, the Rangers essentially duplicated that performance in the series finale. They produced a seven-run third inning en route to scoring eight-plus runs for the third consecutive game.

--Field Level Media