On deck: Los Angeles Angels at Astros
When/where: Today at 7:10 p.m., Saturday at 6:15 p.m., Sunday at 1:10 p.m.; Minute Maid Park. TV/radio: ATTSW today and Sunday, Fox on Saturday; 790 AM, 740 AM, 850 AM (Spanish), 101.7 FM (Spanish).
Pitchers: Today, RHP Justin Verlander (10-3, 2.86) vs. TBD; Saturday, RHP Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.28) vs. TBD; Sunday, RHP Jose Urquidy (0-0, 4.91) vs. TBD.
Astros (55-32) update: They take a five-game winning streak into their final series before the All-Star break, and their 31-13 (.705) ledger at Minute Maid Park puts them on pace for the best home record in franchise history. The record of 55-26 is shared by the 1980 and 1998 Astros. … The Astros are 2-0 against the Angels this year, having swept a pair of games in Monterrey, Mexico, in May. They’ll meet 11 times in the second half. … Yuli Gurriel continues to sizzle. He homered three times in a two-game sweep at Colorado, giving him six home runs and 10 RBIs in his last eight games. … Jose Altuve’s four-hit game Tuesday was the 29th of his career. It also was his 142nd game with at least three hits, moving him past Jeff Bagwell for second most in club history. Craig Biggio had 225 games with at least three hits. … Justin Verlander, trying to strengthen his case to be the AL starter in the All-Star Game, needs three strikeouts to pass Jim Bunning (2,855) for 18th place on the all-time list. … Gerrit Cole is coming off a superb June that earned him AL Pitcher of the Month honors. In six starts, he was 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 38 innings.
Angels (44-44) update: Angels jerseys will bear a “45” patch for the remainder of the season in honor of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died Monday at age 27. … Mike Trout, who will be making his eighth All-Star appearance next week, took a .296/.452/.617 slash line into Thursday’s 9-3 loss at Texas. He was leading the AL in on-base percentage, slugging, home runs (24) and walks (73); he stood second in runs (66) and ranked third in RBIs (61). … Second baseman Tommy La Stella was enjoying a breakout campaign (.300/ .353/.495, 16 homers, 49 runs, 44 RBIs) that got him a reserve nod on the AL All-Star team before fouling a ball off his right tibia and fracturing it Tuesday. He’ll be out for eight to 10 weeks. … Shohei Ohtani, whose season debut came right after L.A.’s series with the Astros in Mexico, is slashing .307/.362/.564 in 49 games with 12 home runs and 35 RBIs. On June 13, he became MLB’s first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle. … Albert Pujols, who entered Thursday tied with Tony Gywnn for 20th all-time in hits (3,141), should crack the top 15 over the course of the second half. Within striking distance are Robin Yount (3,142), Paul Waner (3,152), George Brett (3,154), Adrian Beltre (3,166) and Cal Ripken (3,184). … The Angels are the only team in the majors with fewer strikeouts at the plate (585 through Wednesday) than the Astros (600).