Boston Red Sox (7-6, third in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (7-6, third in the AL East)
St. Petersburg, Florida; Saturday, 6:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Garrett Whitlock (1-0, .93 ERA, .62 WHIP, 11 strikeouts); Rays: J.P. Feyereisen (0-0, .00 ERA, .25 WHIP, five strikeouts)
LINE: Rays -120, Red Sox +100; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays host the Boston Red Sox looking to break their three-game home losing streak.
Tampa Bay has a 4-3 record at home and a 7-6 record overall. Rays hitters have a collective .406 slugging percentage to rank third in the AL.
Boston has a 7-6 record overall and a 3-3 record at home. The Red Sox rank 10th in the AL with 10 total home runs, averaging 0.8 per game.
The matchup Saturday is the second time these teams square off this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Wander Franco has six doubles, a triple and three home runs while hitting .365 for the Rays. Ji-Man Choi is 6-for-21 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.
Alex Verdugo has a double, three home runs and 10 RBI while hitting .289 for the Red Sox. Xander Bogaerts is 13-for-36 with four doubles and a home run over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .238 batting average, 3.75 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
Red Sox: 6-4, .249 batting average, 3.44 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
INJURIES: Rays: Francisco Mejia: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Chris Mazza: 10-Day IL (back), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Patino: 60-Day IL (oblique), JT Chargois: 10-Day IL (oblique), Ryan Yarbrough: 10-Day IL (groin), Brendan McKay: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Pete Fairbanks: 60-Day IL (lat), Tyler Glasnow: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Anderson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Yonny Chirinos: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Red Sox: J.D. Martinez: day-to-day (adductor), Jonathan Arauz: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Kevin Plawecki: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Chris Sale: 60-Day IL (rib), Josh Taylor: 10-Day IL (back), James Paxton: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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