Houston @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 22, 2019 ) LA Angels 5, Houston 13

Wade Miley may have pitched himself out of the Houston Astros' playoff rotation due to a poor month of September. Miley aims to post a turnaround performance on Thursday, when the American League West-champion Astros visit the Los Angeles Angels for the opener of their season-ending four-game series.

Miley has retired no more than three batters in three of his starts and has a horrific 22.09 ERA for the month, having allowed 18 runs and 23 hits in just 7 1/3 innings. Despite Miley's struggles, Houston has won nine of its last 10 games - including Wednesday's 3-0 victory over Seattle, which was its franchise-record 104th win. Zack Greinke lost his no-hitter with one out in the ninth inning for Houston, which is two games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers and 2 1/2 in front of the New York Yankees for the best record in the major leagues. The Angels are staggering to the finish line with 22 losses in their last 30 games, and they gave up two runs in the ninth inning on Wednesday to suffer a 3-2 setback against Oakland.

TV: 10:07 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston), FS West (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros LH Wade Miley (14-6, 3.91 ERA) vs. Angels RH Jaime Barria (4-10, 6.43)

Miley owned a solid 3.06 ERA entering September and won seven straight decisions over the previous two months. The 32-year-old recorded just three outs against the Angels on Saturday, when he allowed four runs and four hits before being removed from his latest loss. Miley is 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA in four starts against Los Angeles this season and 5-1 with a 2.95 ERA in seven career turns versus the club.

Barria has lost seven straight decisions, with two of the setbacks coming against the Astros. The 23-year-old Panamanian served up four homers while being roughed up for six runs and eight hits over 2 2/3 innings by Houston on Friday and is 1-3 with a 4.34 ERA in six career turns against the team. Barria has allowed 22 home runs in just 78 1/3 frames this season.

WALK-OFFS

1. Astros SS Carlos Correa (back) will miss his third straight game on Thursday.

2. Los Angeles 1B Albert Pujols is 7-for-32 without a homer over his last eight contests.

3. Houston 1B Yuli Gurriel, who is hitless in eight at-bats over his last two games, is 4-for-8 with three doubles against Barria.

PREDICTION: Astros 8, Angels 5