Boston Red Sox (40-36, third in the AL East) vs. Cincinnati Reds (36-39, third in the NL Central)
Cincinnati; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Nick Pivetta (4-4, 3.88 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 59 strikeouts); Reds: Frankie Montas (3-5, 4.62 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 49 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Red Sox -125, Reds +105; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds lead 1-0 in a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox.
Cincinnati is 19-19 in home games and 36-39 overall. The Reds have gone 24-5 in games when they scored at least five runs.
Boston has a 22-16 record in road games and a 40-36 record overall. The Red Sox have the fifth-best team ERA in MLB play at 3.45.
Saturday's game is the second time these teams match up this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jeimer Candelario leads Cincinnati with 14 home runs while slugging .506. TJ Friedl is 7-for-36 with two home runs and six RBI over the past 10 games.
Tyler O'Neill leads the Red Sox with 15 home runs while slugging .534. Jarren Duran is 17-for-44 with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 4-6, .203 batting average, 3.03 ERA, outscored by four runs
Red Sox: 7-3, .297 batting average, 3.64 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs
INJURIES: Reds: Tyler Stephenson: day-to-day (undisclosed), Christian Encarnacion-Strand: 60-Day IL (hand), Emilio Pagan: 15-Day IL (lat), Brandon Williamson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ian Gibaut: 60-Day IL (forearm), Tejay Antone: 60-Day IL (elbow), Matt McLain: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Red Sox: Rob Refsnyder: day-to-day (knee), Wilyer Abreu: 10-Day IL (ankle), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (rib), Vaughn Grissom: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Garrett Whitlock: 60-Day IL (oblique), Trevor Story: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Bryan Mata: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lucas Giolito: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
