Red Sox play the Rays in first of 4-game series
Tampa Bay Rays (40-18, first in the AL East) vs. Boston Red Sox (29-27, fifth in the AL East)
Boston; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Tyler Glasnow (0-0, 6.23 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, eight strikeouts); Red Sox: Garrett Whitlock (2-2, 5.14 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 15 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday to open a four-game series.
Boston is 16-13 at home and 29-27 overall. The Red Sox have hit 65 total home runs to rank sixth in the AL.
Tampa Bay has a 14-12 record in road games and a 40-18 record overall. The Rays have a 28-7 record in games when they have more hits than their opponents.
The teams play Friday for the fifth time this season. The Rays are ahead 4-0 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 13 home runs while slugging .510. Masataka Yoshida is 14-for-37 with three doubles, a home run and three RBI over the last 10 games.
Yandy Diaz has 11 doubles, 12 home runs and 30 RBI while hitting .310 for the Rays. Wander Franco is 14-for-38 with two triples over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 3-7, .240 batting average, 3.71 ERA, outscored by eight runs
Rays: 6-4, .249 batting average, 5.22 ERA, outscored by five runs
INJURIES: Red Sox: Chris Sale: day-to-day (shoulder), Richard Bleier: 15-Day IL (shoulder), John Schreiber: 15-Day IL (side), Christian Arroyo: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Adam Duvall: 60-Day IL (wrist), Yu Chang: 10-Day IL (hand), Zack Kelly: 60-Day IL (elbow), Wyatt Mills: 60-Day IL (elbow), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Trevor Story: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Rays: Wander Franco: day-to-day (shoulder), Pete Fairbanks: 15-Day IL (hip), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (flexor), Zack Littell: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Garrett Cleavinger: 60-Day IL (knee), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shawn Armstrong: 60-Day IL (neck), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Andrew Kittredge: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.