Boston Red Sox (54-54, fifth in the AL East) vs. Kansas City Royals (42-65, fourth in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Saturday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Nathan Eovaldi (5-3, 4.11 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 86 strikeouts); Royals: Daniel Lynch (4-7, 4.70 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 80 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -138, Royals +117; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox take on the Kansas City Royals after Xander Bogaerts had four hits against the Royals on Friday.
Kansas City has a 23-31 record in home games and a 42-65 record overall. Royals hitters are batting a collective .245, which ranks seventh in the AL.
Boston has a 28-27 record on the road and a 54-54 record overall. The Red Sox have hit 103 total home runs to rank ninth in the AL.
Saturday's game is the third time these teams match up this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Salvador Perez is third on the Royals with 31 extra base hits (14 doubles, a triple and 16 home runs). MJ Melendez is 9-for-36 with three doubles, a home run and three RBI over the past 10 games.
Rafael Devers has 30 doubles, a triple and 23 home runs for the Red Sox. Alex Verdugo is 12-for-36 with four doubles over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 3-7, .220 batting average, 4.66 ERA, outscored by 23 runs
Red Sox: 5-5, .233 batting average, 4.19 ERA, outscored by six runs
INJURIES: Royals: Edward Olivares: 60-Day IL (quadricep), Angel Zerpa: 60-Day IL (knee), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Tyler Zuber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Red Sox: Brayan Bello: 15-Day IL (groin), Eric Hosmer: day-to-day (neck), Rob Refsnyder: 10-Day IL (knee), Kike Hernandez: 60-Day IL (hip), Chris Sale: 15-Day IL (finger), Trevor Story: 10-Day IL (hand), Matt Strahm: 15-Day IL (wrist), Michael Wacha: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Danish: 15-Day IL (elbow), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (back), James Paxton: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
