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The Houston Astros host the Pittsburgh Pirates for a three game series beginning Friday. At 48-102 the Astros don't have much on the line, but they do have the chance to play spoiler to the Pirates' hopes for the NL Wild Cards.
Edgar Gonzales (2-1, 4.40 ERA) will pitch for Houston, facing off with Jeff Locke (0-1, 5.49 ERA for Pittsburgh. The two men faced off on Sept. 3 in what resulted in a 5-1 Houston win. Gonzales struck out five over 5-1/3 innings to get the win while the Astros took Locke for five runs on seven hits over five innings. Gonzales won his first two starts with Houston after being called up from the Mexican league, but struggled his last time out, giving up five runs on six hits over four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Game Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
Television Coverage: ROOT Sports, Fox Sports Houston
Streaming Coverage: MLB.tv
Stick with SB Nation Houston for scores, previews, updates and more from the Astros vs. Pirates series. For more insight and analysis, check out Astros blog The Crawfish Boxes, or for the Pittsburgh perspective check out Pirates blog Bucs Dugout.