Indians @ Astros

Who will WIN this matchup?

Cleveland Indians (13-10)

@ Houston Astros (15-9)

Starting Pitchers:

Bauer (CLE): 2-1; 2.20 ERA

Cole (HOU) 1-3; 5.22 ERA

Last 10 Games Played:

Cleveland Indians: 5-5

Houston Astros: 6-4

Current odds:

Cleveland Indians: (+140)

Houston Astros: (-150)

• Former UCLA teammates Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole square off Thursday when Bauer’s Cleveland Indians open a four-game road series against Cole’s Houston Astros. The two right-handers aren’t fond of one another with Bauer saying last year that Cole told him he “had no future in baseball” when the two were freshmen at UCLA in 2009. The two squared off in a contest last May and weren’t involved in the decision of Cleveland’s 14-inning victory with Bauer striking out 13 while allowing four runs and five hits over 7 1/3 innings and Cole recording eight strikeouts and giving up three runs and four hits over seven innings.

• The Astros have scored 17 runs over their past two games as they attempt to deal with Bauer while Cleveland is coming off a 6-2 win over the visiting Miami Marlins that halted a three-game slide. Struggling Jose Ramirez displayed signs of breaking out of his funk by going 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs to raise his average to .184. Houston’s Josh Reddick went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in Wednesday’s 7-1 home victory over the Minnesota Twins and is 15-for-28 with three homers over the past seven contests.

• Bauer has dominated the Astros in his career by going 7-0 in eight starts with a 3.18 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 51 innings. The 28-year-old struck out a season-best 10 and gave up two runs and three hits over 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Atlanta Braves in his last start. Bauer has allowed five or fewer hits in four of his five starts and is holding opposing batters to a .167 average.

• Cole is looking to bounce back from perhaps the worst outing of his career as he was torched for nine runs (eight earned) and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings in a loss to the Texas Rangers. The 28-year-old allowed nine earned runs over his first four starts as he gave up four hits in three of them and five in the other. Cole is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two career starts against the Indians and shut down Carlos Gonzalez (2-for-14) when both players were in the National League.

• Indians All-Star SS Francisco Lindor (ankle) served as the DH on Wednesday and is 4-for-18 with a home run and two RBIs in four games since being activated off the injured list.

• Houston LF Michael Brantley, who formerly played for the Indians, hit a two-run blast Wednesday and has gone deep three times during a 10-game hitting streak.

• Cleveland RHP Carlos Carrasco (knee) is slated to make his Sunday start after an MRI exam came back negative Wednesday, one day after he was injured during a start against the Marlins.