On deck: Astros at Seattle Mariners

When/where: Friday at 8:40 pm, Saturday at 9:10 pm, Sunday at 3:10 pm; T Mobile Park.

television/radio: ATTSW; 790 AM and 1010 (Spanish) all three games, 740 AM on Friday and Saturday.

Pitchers: Friday, RHP Justin Verlander (6-1, 1.22) vs. RHP Chris Flexen (1-6, 4.98); Saturday, RHP Jose Urquidy (4-1, 4.24) vs. RHP Logan Gilbert (4-2, 2.60); Sunday, RHP Luis Garcia (3-3, 3.38) vs. LHP Marco Gonzales (3-4, 3.74).

Astros (29-16) update: After completing a stretch of 33 games in 34 days — during which it went 23-10 — Houston enjoyed the first of four consecutive Thursdays off. … The Astros are 4-2 against the Mariners this season but won just one of three April games at Seattle. … Verlander is 2-0 versus the M’s this year, having allowed eight hits and no walks in 14 2/3 innings against them. … With 232 career victories, Verlander is one shy of tying old-old-old-timer Charlie Buffinton (1882-92) for 65th place on the all-time list. … In 21 games this month, Jose Altuve is slashing .341/.393/.707 with eight homers and 20 runs. … Kyle Tucker ranks sixth in the American League with 29 RBIs.

Mariners (18-27) update: Seattle, which entered the season with hopes of ending a playoff drought dating to 2001, resides in last place in the AL West, having lost 21 of its last 28 games. … The Mariners are 10-8 at home and 8-19 on the road. … Highly touted rookie Julio Rodriguez leads the majors with 13 stolen bases. After slashing a mere .205/.284/.260 with no home runs in April, the center fielder is hitting .315/.351/.522 with five homers in May. … Earlier this week, Rodriguez joined Ken Griffey Jr. ( six times) and Alex Rodriguez (three times) as the only Mariners to homer in back-to-back games at age 21 or younger. … First baseman Ty France ranks fifth in the AL in both batting average (.331) and RBIs (31). He has an eight-game hitting streak during which he is 13-for-32 (.406)… 2020 AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis played his first game of 2022 on Tuesday. He hadn’t played in the majors since last May because of a meniscus tear in his right knee. He will be a DH for the foreseeable future.