Los Angeles @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( May 29, 2016 ) Houston 8, LA Angels 6

The Houston Astros made a seemingly innocuous move after falling a season-worst 11 games below .500 late last month, moving George Springer up one spot to bat atop the order. The Astros are 17-8 since making the change and attempt to move to one game of the break-even mark Monday, when they begin a three-game series at home against the Los Angeles Angels.

Houston (34-36) dropped to 17-28 after scoring a total of five runs during a four-game losing streak from May 19-22, prompting manager A.J. Hinch to shake things up and have Springer and Jose Altuve switch spots in the batting order. Although Springer's production actually has declined a bit over the last month and Altuve's power has fallen off considerably, the Astros have climbed from the basement in the American League West to third place and lost only one game on the 10-game division lead AL-best Texas had on them just less than a month ago. Los Angeles has won four of its last five, like Houston, and received stellar pitching during its recent surge, allowing nine runs over that stretch after Jered Weaver tossed a three-hit shutout against Oakland on Sunday. The Angels dropped two of three at home to the Astros from May 27-29, but they will have six opportunities over the next 10 days to change that as the division rivals will meet again early next week in Los Angeles.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), ROOT (Houston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Jhoulys Chacin (3-4, 5.00 ERA) vs. Astros RH Doug Fister (7-3, 3.26)
Chacin did just enough to move to 2-2 with Los Angeles since coming over from Atlanta on May 11, picking up the win against Minnesota on Tuesday despite allowing four runs and seven hits over five innings. The 28-year-old Venezuelan is 1-1 with a 7.04 ERA in three June outings, which followed a 10-strikeout masterpiece against Detroit on May 30 in which he tossed a four-hitter for his first complete game since 2011. Chacin settled for a no-decision in his lone career start versus Houston in 2013 but has allowed current Astro hitters to bat .306 against him.
Fister extended his team's winning streak in his starts to nine games in St. Louis on Tuesday after he permitted two runs - both on solo homers - and five hits over 7 1/3 innings. The Fresno State product is 6-0 with a 2.35 ERA since the beginning of May and has allowed three runs or fewer in 12 of his 13 trips to the mound this season. Fister did not factor in the decision versus the Angels on May 29 after yielding three runs (one earned) over six frames and is 2-3 with a 2.74 ERA in 10 career starts against them.

WALK-OFFS
1. Altuve, who is hitting .393 this month, went 6-for-11 against the Angels in the first series between the teams and is a career .351 hitter in 60 career games versus Los Angeles.
2. Angels CF Mike Trout (131) and Springer (95) rank first and third in the majors, respectively, in consecutive games started.
3. Los Angeles DH Albert Pujols' 52 career homers against Houston are the most all-time versus the Astros.

PREDICTION: Astros 6, Angels 3