Astros at Tigers
With roughly two months left in the regular season, Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is threatening to run away with the batting title. Altuve looks to stay hot as the Astros continue a three-game set at the Detroit Tigers on Saturday with a chance to clinch a third straight series win on their current road trip.
Altuve had three hits and scored twice in Friday's 6-5 win to extend his career-best hitting streak to 19 games, during which he is batting an absurd .524 to raise his average for the season to .369. Josh Reddick's three-run homer in the eighth was the difference in the victory for Houston, which improved to 38-13 on the road to stay ahead of the pace for the best mark away from home in major league history. The Tigers have dropped four in a row and inch closer to a trade deadline that figures to see them sell off a few more parts. Nicholas Castellanos slugged a three-run homer and Miguel Cabrera added a solo shot for Detroit in Friday's loss.
TV: 6:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), FSN Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Collin McHugh (0-0, 7.71 ERA) vs. Tigers LH Matt Boyd (4-5, 5.48)
McHugh came back from a shoulder issue to make his season debut last Saturday at Baltimore, allowing four runs in 4 2/3 innings. He is 0-3 with a 6.86 ERA in four career starts against the Tigers, including a miserable outing exactly one year ago - also in Detroit - when he was pounded for eight runs and 10 hits in 1 2/3 frames. The 30-year-old has been hit particularly hard by Castellanos (6-for-11) and Cabrera (5-for-9).
Boyd has posted a pair of wins since returning from the minors earlier this month. He gave up three runs and four hits while fanning a season-high eight in a victory at Minnesota on Sunday. The Oregon State product is 1-0 in two starts versus Houston but has given up eight runs in 10 innings in those meetings, allowing four home runs.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cabrera has 2,602 career hits, three behind Rabbit Maranville and Tim Raines for 80th on baseball's all-time list.
2. Houston placed CF George Springer (quadriceps) on the 10-day disabled list.
3. The Tigers are 7-18 against American League West teams in 2017.