Royals take 4-game losing streak into matchup against the Red Sox
Kansas City Royals (57-87, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (70-74, fifth in the AL East)
Boston; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Brady Singer (8-4, 3.21 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 131 strikeouts); Red Sox: Rich Hill (7-6, 4.56 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 86 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -159, Royals +136; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals aim to break their four-game slide with a victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Boston has a 36-36 record at home and a 70-74 record overall. The Red Sox have the third-ranked team batting average in the AL at .258.
Kansas City is 23-46 on the road and 57-87 overall. The Royals have a 42-13 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.
The teams meet Saturday for the sixth time this season. The Royals lead the season series 3-2.
TOP PERFORMERS: Xander Bogaerts has a .315 batting average to rank fourth on the Red Sox, and has 37 doubles and 14 home runs. Alex Verdugo is 12-for-40 with a home run and four RBI over the last 10 games.
Bobby Witt Jr. has 27 doubles, six triples and 20 home runs for the Royals. Salvador Perez is 12-for-36 with a double, two home runs and six RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 4-6, .243 batting average, 3.00 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs
Royals: 2-8, .180 batting average, 4.29 ERA, outscored by 20 runs
INJURIES: Red Sox: Trevor Story: day-to-day (heel), Franchy Cordero: 60-Day IL (ankle), Kutter Crawford: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (back), Nathan Eovaldi: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Eric Hosmer: 10-Day IL (back), Chris Sale: 60-Day IL (finger), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (back), James Paxton: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Royals: Josh Staumont: 15-Day IL (biceps), Taylor Clarke: 15-Day IL (oblique), Edward Olivares: 60-Day IL (quadricep), Angel Zerpa: 60-Day IL (knee), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Tyler Zuber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
