The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros will open a highly anticipated American League West showdown on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

The Rangers pushed back veteran right-hander Jon Gray to be available for the opener of the four-game series. The Astros are expected to start right-hander Ronel Blanco.

First-place Texas owns a five-game lead over second-place Houston in the division, but the season is just at the halfway mark. The Rangers are coming off a four-game series split with the visiting Detroit Tigers, while the Astros won the final two games to take a three-game road series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Rangers are feeling good about where they are as they enter the Lone Star Series, having matched the third-best 81-game start in franchise history at 49-32.

“You have to feel good about how they’ve played. It’s been fun to watch these guys,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “Overall, you have to be excited about this team, how they’re playing.

“These guys have just done a tremendous job. They’ve been through some things — injuries, tough losses — but they bounce back. So, great job by them.”

Gray (6-3, 2.89 ERA) will make his 15th start of the season and is coming off a tough-luck loss to the New York Yankees on Saturday. He allowed one run on three hits over five innings as the Rangers fell 1-0.

In his career vs. the Astros, Gray is 1-2 with a 3.12 ERA over five starts. He faced them earlier this season on April 15 in Houston, exiting in the third inning after taking a line drive off his right elbow.

The Texas offense is showing signs of trending in the right direction. In an 8-5 loss to the Tigers on Thursday, the Rangers produced 12 hits but went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

On the bright side, Ezequiel Duran delivered a solo home run, the third consecutive game in which he went deep. Leody Taveras, who also hit a solo home run on Thursday, has nine home runs this year — seven in June.

For the Astros, Blanco (1-0, 4.63 ERA) will make his fifth start since moving into the rotation on June 1. In his latest outing, a no-decision against the host Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, he allowed three runs on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts over six innings.

Blanco started the season in a relief role and made two appearances against the Rangers during a series in mid-April. He gave up one run on two hits in a one-inning outing on April 14, then yielded three unearned runs over two innings on April 16.

He also opposed Texas on April 25, 2022, when he got one out and gave up one hit and one run.

The Astros scored 10 runs Wednesday and then produced a season-high run total in a 14-0 rout of the Cardinals on Thursday. The latter onslaught included a six-run second inning and a four-run ninth.

Alex Bregman hit a grand slam in the blowout, and Kyle Tucker contributed a two-run single and a three-run homer.

–Field Level Media

The red-hot Miami Marlins will square off with the even-hotter Braves when the teams begin a three-game National League East showdown in Atlanta on Friday night.

Miami is coming off a three-game road sweep of the Boston Red Sox, its seventh sweep of the season, and has won five straight games. The Marlins are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second-best record in the NL and are 19-7 (.731) this month, the franchise’s best-ever June winning percentage.

“Definitely a confidence level that we have,” Miami shortstop Joey Wendle said. “Confidence in each other, confidence that if we don’t get the job done that somebody else will. That’s passed down from the top. And we’ve done a good job executing late in games and getting hits when we need it.”

The Braves are riding a five-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep against the Minnesota Twins to start the week. Atlanta has won 13 of its past 14 games and has the best record in the NL at 53-27.

Atlanta is 20-4 in June with a major-league-high 55 home runs this month. One more homer would tie the franchise record for the most June long balls. Atlanta has 50 homers in back-to-back months for the first time in team history.

“They’ve just been putting together good baseball,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said of his players. “I mean, total team-type things — defense, the bats, the bullpen, starting pitching. Getting the most we can out of those guys. Just good, consistent baseball.”

The Marlins, who are in second place in the NL East, are 7-3 over their past 10 games, but they lost two in the East standings to the first-place Braves during that time.

Atlanta has dominated the series between the teams, having won six of seven matchups this year after taking 13 of 19 last year. The Marlins haven’t won a season series against the Braves since going 10-9 vs. them in 2014.

The teams have met in two series this season, with Atlanta winning three of four games at home in late April and then sweeping three games at Miami in early May.

The Braves recalled right-hander Michael Soroka (0-1, 8.38 ERA) to start on Friday against Miami right-hander Bryan Hoeing (1-1, 2.31).

Soroka missed almost three seasons with various ailments, including two Achilles tears, before he was first recalled by the Braves this season on May 29. He made two starts, then was sent back to Triple-A Gwinnett after surrendering five runs in 3 2/3 innings at Arizona on June 4.

After being demoted, Soroka made three starts and went 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA for Gwinnett. He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Jacksonville before allowing a two-out solo homer. Soroka was named International League Pitcher of the Week for the period of June 19-25.

He is 2-0 with a 1.07 ERA in five career starts vs. the Marlins, having last faced them in 2019.

Hoeing, after working out of the Miami bullpen for six weeks, has made back-to-back scoreless starts. In his most recent outing, on Monday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he pitched five no-hit innings in a no-decision.

Hoeing is 0-1 with a 10.50 ERA in three career appearances (one start) against the Braves. He was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on April 25 and started that night vs. Atlanta, and he gave up four runs over 3 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

The San Francisco Giants were swinging loud bats for the majority of the month before their offense went quiet this week.

The Giants will look to make some noise on Friday night when they open a three-game series against the host New York Mets.

San Francisco has mustered just seven total runs during its past four games, logging just a single run in each of the past two contests — both losses.

Former Mets right fielder Michael Conforto sat out the Giants’ 2-1 setback at Toronto on Thursday and likely will be a spectator in his return to Citi Field. He injured his left hamstring when one of his cleats became stuck in the artificial turf Wednesday in San Francisco’s 6-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

“It’s really frustrating, the timing of it,” Conforto told the San Francisco Chronicle of potentially sitting out against his former team. “But any time this happens, it’s frustrating. It’s not just the fact that we’re going back to New York. There’s never a good time for something like this.”

J.D. Davis will face the Mets for the first time since being traded to the Giants last season. The third baseman had a short night on Thursday after he joined manager Gabe Kapler in being ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the third inning.

“I think that guy (Davis) deserves the benefit of the doubt,” Kapler said. “I don’t think he got it, and that (ticked) me off.”

The Giants are expected to activate right-hander Alex Cobb (5-2, 3.09 ERA) from the 15-day injured list to start the Friday game. Cobb has been sidelined since leaving his June 13 start because of a strained left oblique.

Cobb, 35, is 1-2 with a 5.87 RRA in four career games (all starts) against the Mets.

New York will counter with right-hander Carlos Carrasco (2-3, 6.19) in the series opener.

Carrasco, 36, has struggled mightily in June, going 0-1 with a bloated 7.02 ERA in 16 2/3 innings. He allowed two runs on five hits in four innings during a no-decision vs. the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

Carrasco is 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA in five career games (all starts) against the Giants.

New York dropped to a season-high nine games under .500 with a 3-2 setback to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. The loss was the Mets’ 18th in their past 24 games.

“We just have to stay in the moment. We just have to stay in the present,” New York shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “Yes, it’s tough at times to not look ahead. Even last year when we were winning a lot of series early on in the year, celebrate the win and turn the page. It’s the same thing now. Learn from it and turn the page.

“Focus on … the San Francisco Giants, who are coming in and playing good ball. You can’t dwell on the losses or celebrate wins too long.”

Brett Baty and Brandon Nimmo hit back-to-back homers for New York in the third inning on Thursday. Tommy Pham recorded his second straight multi-hit performance and his third in the past five games.

–Field Level Media

The Toronto Blue Jays have another chance to improve their record in the American League East when they open a three-game series against the visiting Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

The Blue Jays are 7-17 against teams within their own division and 38-20 against all other teams.

Toronto is scheduled to start right-hander Jose Berrios (8-5, 3.60 ERA) in the opener. In 11 career starts against the Red Sox, he is 1-5 with a 4.15 ERA. He got a no-decision at Boston on May 1, when he gave up five runs on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings of his team’s 6-5 loss.

The Red Sox are scheduled to start James Paxton (3-1, 3.19). The left-hander is 5-3 with a 4.53 ERA in 10 career starts against Toronto.

The Blue Jays have won four of the first six games of their nine-game homestand after defeating the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on Thursday.

Chris Bassitt struck out a career-best 12 in six scoreless innings to earn the victory in that game. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s two-run home run in the sixth provided all of Toronto’s scoring.

The Blue Jays sit in fourth place in the AL East but hope to make up ground.

“The goal is always to win the division,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Wednesday. “I know the standings are what they are and it’s June 28, (but) the goal for this team this year is to not just play better, but to get into the postseason and make a deep run.

“I don’t think that’s going to change no matter what the calendar says or the standings say until you are mathematically eliminated to do one thing or another.”

Schneider added, “(The division) didn’t get away from us. It’s June. Tampa Bay got off to a historically good start. I don’t think anyone expected the team to run off 13 in a row to start the year. I think you see them right now going the other way a little bit. That’s going to happen. Bullpens are going to get worn out and guys aren’t going to be hitting .330 and doing a ton of damage the whole year.”

Boston swept the visiting Blue Jays in a four-game series from May 1-4, but the Red Sox are struggling now. They have lost five in a row after the visiting Miami Marlins completed a three-game sweep Thursday with a 2-0 victory. Boston starter Brayan Bello had his no-hit bid end in the eighth inning and wound up with a hard-luck loss.

“There’s days when you’re going to score runs,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “There’s days you’re going to give it up. And today we pitched well. We didn’t hit.”

Overall, the Red Sox have been hampered by poor defense, particularly in the middle infield.

The Sox have used 14 second base/shortstop combinations this season, none for more than five consecutive games. Christian Arroyo, Enmanuel Valdez, Enrique Hernandez, Pablo Reyes and Yu Chang have started at second base, and Hernandez, Reyes, Chang, David Hamilton, Arroyo and Bobby Dalbec have started at short.

“You’ve got to make sure everybody works together,” Cora said. “It’s our job to prepare them for the game. The more reps they get, the better it is. Obviously, it’s hard in that aspect (with the lineup changes) …

“Obviously we have struggled. I don’t know what can happen. We trusted these guys. … This is where we’re at. We’ve just got to keep pushing them.”

Toronto reinstated catcher Alejandro Kirk (left hand laceration) from the injured list Thursday and optioned Tyler Heineman to Triple-A Buffalo.

Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (back spasms) did not play for the third straight game Thursday.

–Field Level Media

The Milwaukee Brewers, who will open a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Friday night, are catching the Pirates in a much different set of circumstances than existed entering the teams’ previous matchup.

Pittsburgh had just been swept by the Chicago Cubs and had lost six of eight upon arrival in Milwaukee on June 16. The Brewers swept the Pirates in three games by a combined 15-6.

Pittsburgh’s losing streak reached 10, but now the Pirates have won four of six and are coming off a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres.

The Pirates struggled in several areas during their tough stretch, but they found their offense against the Padres, totaling 21 runs in the three games.

Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton believes his team doesn’t have to wallop the ball to succeed: “Just continuing to move the ball forward,” he said.

A Pirates trend continued against San Diego, with the club receiving key contributions from three freshly recalled rookies: right fielder Henry Davis, shortstop Nick Gonzales and third baseman Jared Triolo.

They went a combined 13-for-29 (.448) with eight RBIs and seven runs vs. the Padres.

Davis, who has the longest tenure among the trio at 10 games, has a seven-game hitting streak. He was matter-of-fact about Pittsburgh’s turnround.

“It’s just staying focused on our preparation and doing our best when the game comes,” Davis said. “Executing the past few days has been great.”

Milwaukee had lost six straight before its sweep of the Pirates in mid-June. Those three wins kicked off a 9-4 stretch, including a 3-2 win against the host New York Mets on Thursday.

Before the series finale at New York, Milwaukee optioned infielder Luis Urias to Triple-A Nashville after he struggled to find his groove at the plate since coming off the injured list on June 5.

The corresponding move was recalling infielder Brice Turang, who started at second base on Thursday and went 1-for-4 with a double. Turang was cold at the plate when he was demoted June 7.

“I went down (to Nashville), felt good, got right,” he said. “There were some changes. There kind of had to be. I had to figure it out a little bit.”

In the series opener on Friday, Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta (5-7, 4.65 ERA) is scheduled to start against Pittsburgh’s Osvaldo Bido (0-1, 3.45) in a matchup of right-handers.

Peralta is coming off a loss at Cleveland on Saturday in which he allowed three runs and four hits in five-plus innings. He continually worked through jams — including getting out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation with just one run in the fourth.

“He lost command a little bit in the fourth but did a great job,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.

Peralta was less forgiving of himself.

“It’s hard when you’re feeling good and then you run into a bad inning,” he said. “It’s part of the process.”

Peralta is 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA in 18 career games, half of them starts, against Pittsburgh. That includes a no-decision in a June 18 start, when he allowed two runs on two hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out nine.

Bido, another Pittsburgh rookie, will make his fourth career start, his first against the Brewers.

He received zero runs of support while in the game in his past two outings. Most recently, he allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings during a no-decision Saturday at Miami. Bido allowed nine hits and no walks while fanning five.

–Field Level Media