Texas Rangers (34-30, second in the AL West) vs. Boston Red Sox (34-32, third in the AL East)
Boston; Monday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Mike Minor (5-4, 2.55 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 87 strikeouts) Red Sox: Chris Sale (2-7, 3.84 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 110 strikeouts)
LINE: Rangers favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Boston and Texas meet to begin the four-game series.
The Red Sox are 15-15 in home games. Boston has a team on-base percentage of .332, good for third in the American League. Mookie Betts leads the club with a mark of .374.
The Rangers are 10-18 on the road. Texas has slugged .455, good for fourth in the American League. Hunter Pence leads the team with a .574 slugging percentage, including 24 extra-base hits and 13 home runs. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 75 hits and has 40 RBIs. Xander Bogaerts has 10 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for Boston.
Pence leads the Rangers with 13 home runs and is batting .284. Elvis Andrus is 12-for-45 with three doubles, a triple and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Texas.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 5-5, .246 batting average, 4.30 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
Rangers: 7-3, .286 batting average, 3.87 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
Red Sox Injuries: Hector Velazquez: 10-day IL (back), Tyler Thornburg: 10-day IL (hip), Brian Johnson: 10-day IL (elbow), Nathan Eovaldi: 10-day IL (elbow), Dustin Pedroia: 60-day IL (knee), Steve Pearce: 10-day IL (back), Mitch Moreland: 10-day IL (quad), Tzu-Wei Lin: 10-day IL (knee), J.D. Martinez: day-to-day (back).
Rangers Injuries: Edinson Volquez: 60-day IL (elbow), Yohander Mendez: 60-day IL (elbow), Taylor Hearn: 60-day IL (elbow), Luke Farrell: 60-day IL (jaw), Kyle Dowdy: 10-day IL (elbow), Scott Heineman: 60-day IL (shoulder), Joey Gallo: 10-day IL (oblique), Willie Calhoun: 10-day IL (quad), Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 10-day IL (finger).
