Boston Red Sox (76-59, third in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (84-49, first in the AL East)
St. Petersburg, Florida; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Eduardo Rodriguez (10-7, 5.12 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 150 strikeouts) Rays: Shane McClanahan (9-4, 3.50 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 117 strikeouts)
LINE: Rays -166, Red Sox +145; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox travel to take on the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
The Rays are 43-24 in home games in 2020. Tampa Bay is slugging .421 as a unit. Nelson Cruz leads the club with a .504 slugging percentage, including 44 extra-base hits and 26 home runs.
The Red Sox are 35-33 on the road. Boston has slugged .445 this season. Kyle Schwarber leads the team with a mark of .574.
The Red Sox won the last meeting 3-2. Garrett Whitlock recorded his seventh victory and Christian Vazquez went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Boston. Pete Fairbanks took his fifth loss for Tampa Bay.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Lowe leads the Rays with 56 extra base hits and is slugging .498.
J.D. Martinez leads the Red Sox with 136 hits and is batting .282.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 9-1, .265 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by 33 runs
Red Sox: 6-4, .259 batting average, 4.45 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs
INJURIES: Rays: Matt Wisler: (finger), Ryan Thompson: (shoulder), Jeffrey Springs: (knee), Chaz Roe: (shoulder), Cody Reed: (thumb), Colin Poche: (elbow), DJ Johnson: (shoulder), Tyler Glasnow: (elbow), Oliver Drake: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Nick Anderson: (elbow), Brett Phillips: (ankle), Ji-Man Choi: (hamstring).
Red Sox: Martin Perez: (covid-19), Darwinzon Hernandez: (oblique), Eduard Bazardo: (lat), Matt Barnes: (covid-19), Yairo Munoz: (covid-19), Kike Hernandez: (health protocols), Xander Bogaerts: (covid-19), Christian Arroyo: (health protocols).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
