A critical series between American League contenders kicks off Tuesday as the New York Yankees visit the Houston Astros for a three-game set. First pitch is at 8:10 p.m. ET from Daikin Park.

The Astros (76-62) enter Tuesday in first place in the AL West, three games ahead of the Seattle Mariners (73-65). They have won four of their past six but are coming a weekend series in which they dropped two of three to the Los Angeles Angels .

The Yankees (76-61, .555) currently sit just 0.1 percentage point ahead of the Boston Red Sox (77-62, .554) for the top spot in AL wild card race. They saw a seven-game winning streak snapped Sunday with a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox .

The pitching matchup features Yankees ace Max Fried (14-5, 3.06 ERA) taking on Astros stalwart Framber

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