Boston Red Sox (39-31, third in the AL East) vs. Cleveland Guardians (36-29, first in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: No starters named
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -119, Guardians +101; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians host the Boston Red Sox to begin a three-game series.
Cleveland has a 16-10 record at home and a 36-29 record overall. The Guardians are 16-7 in games when they did not give up a home run.
Boston has a 39-31 record overall and a 19-15 record on the road. Red Sox hitters have a collective .414 slugging percentage to rank seventh in MLB.
Friday's game is the first time these teams square off this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Naylor has 13 doubles, eight home runs and 38 RBI while hitting .280 for the Guardians. Amed Rosario is 17-for-43 with five doubles, a triple and two home runs over the past 10 games.
Xander Bogaerts has a .335 batting average to rank fourth on the Red Sox, and has 20 doubles and six home runs. Alex Verdugo is 9-for-36 with a home run and six RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 8-2, .257 batting average, 3.52 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs
Red Sox: 8-2, .270 batting average, 3.20 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
INJURIES: Guardians: Carlos Vargas: 60-Day IL (elbow), James Karinchak: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Cody Morris: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Red Sox: Christian Arroyo: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Nathan Eovaldi: 15-Day IL (back), Garrett Whitlock: 15-Day IL (hip), Kike Hernandez: 10-Day IL (hip), Matt Barnes: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (back), Chris Sale: 60-Day IL (rib), 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.
