Los Angeles @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 26, 2018 ) Houston 3, LA Angels 1

Houston Astros right-hander Justin Verlander has fallen off the pace in the American League Cy Young race but will try to remain perfect against the visiting Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series. Verlander has won each of his four starts while compiling a minuscule 1.61 ERA against the Angels this season.

Houston opened its 10-game homestand by taking two of three from hard-charging Oakland, winning Wednesday's rubber match on Tyler White's walk-off homer in the ninth inning. "It felt like kind of a heavyweight battle," said Astros manager A.J. Hinch after his team opened a 2 1/2-game lead over the Athletics atop the American League West and improved to 7-1 in its last eight games. Houston also has won seven of the past eight meetings against the Angels, who will arrive at Minute Maid Park having lost nine of 11 - including a three-game sweep by the Astros last weekend. Albert Pujols, who is 10-for-36 lifetime against Verlander, is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on Wednesday.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels LH Andrew Heaney (7-8, 4.25 ERA) vs. Astros RH Justin Verlander (13-8, 2.72)

Heaney has labored through five starts in August, posting a 1-2 record and 6.67 ERA after he was knocked around for five runs and eight hits over six innings in a loss to Houston on Friday. It's a marked decline from last month when he was 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA in five starts and beat the Astros with six innings of one-run ball. Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel are both 1-for-9 against Heaney.

Verlander was 9-2 through the middle of June but is 4-6 over his last dozen starts despite winning his last two, including six innings of three-run ball against the Angels on Saturday. The long ball continues to be a thorny issue for the 35-year-old, who has yielded 15 home runs over his last eight turns. Angels center fielder Mike Trout has struggled in his career versus Verlander, going 4-for-32.

WALK-OFFS

1. Bregman is 19-for-40 during a 10-game hitting streak.

2. Angels INF David Fletcher has hit safely in three straight and 11 of his last 13 games.

3. Astros 2B Jose Altuve struck out four times in a game for the first time in his career Wednesday and has whiffed in six of his last nine at-bats.

PREDICTION: Astros 5, Angels 2