Houston @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 22, 2016 ) Houston 3, Pittsburgh 1

The Pittsburgh Pirates are playing their way out of the National League wild-card race while the Houston Astros try to climb back into the race in the American League. The Astros will try to pick on the struggling Pirates for the second straight day when they visit for the middle of a three-game interleague series on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh dropped its fourth straight game with a 3-1 setback in Monday’s series opener and lost the last three despite the pitching staff allowing three runs in each. The stagnant offense watched the top three hitters go 0-for-12 with five strikeouts on Monday as the Pirates fell 3 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild card. The Astros are 3 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card in the AL but are trending in the opposite direction with four consecutive victories. Houston slugged its way to wins at Baltimore over the weekend and had enough power left over to down its former NL Central rivals as Teoscar Hernandez and Alex Bregman homered on Monday.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Houston, Pittsburgh)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Joe Musgrove (1-1, 4.18 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Ivan Nova (9-6, 4.83)

Musgrove dealt with the first patch of adversity in his young major league career when he was hammered at Baltimore on Thursday. The 23-year-old was ripped for eight runs on 11 hits – three home runs – and a walk while notching just two strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Musgrove, who is making his first start against an NL club, surrendered a total of three runs and struck out 21 in 18 1/3 innings over his first three appearances.

Nova won his first two starts after joining Pittsburgh in a trade form the New York Yankees but was held out of the decision at San Francisco on Wednesday. The Dominican Republic native allowed four runs in as many innings against the Giants and has not issued a walk in 16 1/3 innings with the Pirates. Nova made his first appearance of 2016 against Houston on April 6 and tossed four scoreless innings of relief to earn a save.

WALK-OFFS

1. Astros INF/OF Yulieksi Gurriel (hamstring) was limited to pinch hitting on Monday and is day-to-day.

2. Pirates RHP Tyler Glasnow (shoulder) went three scoreless innings in a rehab assignment at Double-A Altoona.

3. Pittsburgh signed 3B David Freese to a two-year, $11 million contract extension.

PREDICTION: Pirates 9, Astros 8