Boston Red Sox (42-27, second in the AL East) vs. Kansas City Royals (30-37, third in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Nick Pivetta (6-2, 4.28 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 80 strikeouts) Royals: Jackson Kowar (0-2, 36.00 ERA, 6.50 WHIP, 1 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City enters the matchup as losers of their last six games.
The Royals are 16-18 on their home turf. Kansas City has hit 66 home runs this season, last in the American League. Salvador Perez leads the club with 17, averaging one every 15.4 at-bats.
The Red Sox are 22-10 on the road. The Boston offense has compiled a .257 batting average as a team this season, good for third in the American League. Xander Bogaerts leads the team with an average of .325.
TOP PERFORMERS: Perez leads the Royals with 17 home runs and is slugging .533.
Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 37 extra base hits and is batting .283.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 1-9, .237 batting average, 6.72 ERA, outscored by 34 runs
Red Sox: 6-4, .258 batting average, 6.70 ERA, outscored by 18 runs
INJURIES: Royals: Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Brady Singer: (shoulder), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Danny Duffy: (forearm), Ronald Bolanos: (flexor), Andrew Benintendi: (rib).
Red Sox: Chris Sale: (elbow), Ryan Brasier: (left calf), Christian Vazquez: (illness).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
