Astros looking to stay hot against Shoemaker, Angels

The Angels and Astros, two teams headed in different directions, meet for the second time in less than a week when they open a three-game series on Monday at Angels Stadium.

The Astros, who swept the Angels last week in Houston, had a season-high seven-game winning streak snapped with their 6-1 loss to Kansas City on Sunday. Their streak put them in the thick of the American League Wild Card race. Houston will send right-hander Collin McHugh (5-5, 4.70 ERA), who held the Angels to two runs in seven innings last Tuesday, to the mound to face righty Matt Shoemaker (3-8, 4.43).

The Angels came back to beat the A's, 7-6, on Sunday to snap a season-high six losses in a row. Shoemaker held the Astros to three runs in 7 1/3 innings on Wednesday, but took the loss. He's 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in two starts against Houston this year.

Things to know about this game
• Angels slugger Mike Trout is baseball's active leader in consecutive games started at 138, and the Astros' Jose Altuve is baseball's active leader in consecutive games played at 167. Houston manager A.J. Hinch hinted on Sunday that Altuve might get a day off during this series.

• Seven of Albert Pujols' last 20 hits against the Astros have been home runs. His 52 homers against the Astros in the regular season are the most all-time against Houston by any player. Pujols got most of those when he was in the National League Central with the Cardinals.

• Altuve's fourth-inning single on Sunday pushed his streak of reaching base safely to 29 consecutive games, the longest current streak in baseball. That ties a career record for Altuve, who reached base in 29 games in a row Aug. 1-Sept. 1, 2015. Altuve has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games in Anaheim, batting .388.