Kansas City Royals (57-86, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (69-74, fifth in the AL East)
Boston; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Jonathan Heasley (3-8, 5.51 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 57 strikeouts); Red Sox: Michael Wacha (11-1, 2.69 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 88 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -205, Royals +170; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox host the Kansas City Royals to begin a three-game series.
Boston has gone 35-36 in home games and 69-74 overall. The Red Sox rank ninth in the AL with 136 total home runs, averaging 1.0 per game.
Kansas City has a 23-45 record on the road and a 57-86 record overall. Royals hitters are batting a collective .241, which ranks ninth in the AL.
Friday's game is the fifth time these teams square off this season. The Royals are ahead 3-1 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 65 extra base hits (38 doubles, a triple and 26 home runs). Xander Bogaerts is 14-for-35 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI over the past 10 games.
Bobby Witt Jr. has 20 home runs, 27 walks and 72 RBI while hitting .247 for the Royals. Salvador Perez is 12-for-36 with a double, two home runs and five RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 4-6, .249 batting average, 3.21 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs
Royals: 3-7, .182 batting average, 4.24 ERA, outscored by 18 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.
