On deck: Seattle Mariners at Astros
When/where: Friday at 7:10 p.m., Saturday at 3:10 p.m., Sunday at 1:10 p.m.; Minute Maid Park.
TV/radio: ATTSW; 790 AM and 1010 AM (Spanish) all three games, 740 AM on Friday.
Pitchers: Friday, RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (9-4, 3.22) vs. LHP Yusei Kikuchi (7-6, 3.82); Saturday, RHP Jake Odorizzi (5-6, 4.74) vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (5-4, 4.42); Sunday, RHP Framber Valdez (8-4, 3.16) vs. LHP Tyler Anderson (6-8, 4.10).
Astros (71-50) update: Despite losing three of four at Kansas City, Houston maintained a 2½-game AL West lead over Oakland, which dropped three of four to the White Sox. … After reaching base four times and scoring thrice in Thursday’s win over the Royals, Carlos Correa is batting .313 (25-for-80) over his last 21 games with six doubles and three home runs. … Jose Altuve’s next game will be the 1,400th of his career, which ranks eighth on the Astros’ all-time list. Seventh-place Jimmy Wynn played in 1,426 games for the franchise. … Outfielder Chas McCormick is hitting .333 (19-for-57) in August. …Jason Castro has reached base in nine of his 18 plate appearances as a pinch hitter this season (five hits, four walks).
Mariners (66-56) update: Seattle, coming off a threegame sweep at Texas, has won eight of its last 10 and stands a season-best 10 games over .500 as it pursues its first playoff spot since 2001. The Mariners are three games behind the A’s for the second wild card. … Seattle’s pitching staff has an AL-best 2.69 ERA for August. … Since being traded by the Astros to the Mariners, Abraham Toro has reached base safely in 20 of 21 games. He’s hitting .308 (24-for-78) in that span with an OPS of .880. … Ty France is batting .341 (43-for-126) since the All-Star break. … Third baseman Kyle Seager on Thursday became the third Mariner with 300 career doubles, joining Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr.