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The Houston Astros enter the weekend in the tightest division race in baseball with Houston a game back of the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers in the American League West race and will look to eliminate the deficit on Saturday on the road against the Detroit Tigers
Houston Astros (-135, 9) vs. Detroit Tigers
Hunter Brown gets the start for the Astros on Saturday, who has performed better on the road than at home this season with a 5.47 ERA with a .285 opponents batting average and 4.1 walks per nine innings at home compared to a 3.86 ERA with a .252 opponents batting average and 2.3 walks per nine innings on the road.
Though Brown has a 4.50 ERA this season, his 3.98 fielding independent and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings point to positive regression and he is backed by a bullpen that is seventh in the league in ERA.
Brown also gets to face a Tigers offense that has improved slightly since the All-Star Break, with their 4.3 runs per game since the All-Star Break entering Friday ranking 21st in the league, but the team overall this season is still 29th in runs scored, 27th in batting average, and 25th in home runs per game at home.
On the mound for the Tigers will be Eduardo Rodriguez, who enters with a 3.03 ERA and 3.15 fielding independent with 2.2 walks and 0.8 home runs per nine innings allowed with 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
While Rodriguez’s test will be stiff, going against an Astros lineup that leads the American League in runs since the All-Star Break, Houston has scored three runs or fewer in six of their last 12 games.
The Astros 3.87 road ERA entering the series was the third-best in the league this season and with Rodriguez entering having allowed two runs or fewer in five of his last seven starts, Saturday sets up for a pitchers duel in Detroit.
The Play: Astros vs. Tigers Under 9