Red Sox and Royals meet to determine series winner

Kansas City Royals (52-44, third in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (52-42, third in the AL East)

Boston; Sunday, 1:35 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Brady Singer (5-5, 2.93 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 96 strikeouts); Red Sox: Brayan Bello (9-5, 5.40 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 82 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Red Sox -129, Royals +108; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals are looking for a series win with a victory on Sunday.

Boston is 52-42 overall and 23-25 at home. The Red Sox have hit 110 total home runs to rank fifth in the AL.

Kansas City has a 52-44 record overall and a 21-26 record on the road. The Royals have the seventh-ranked team slugging percentage in the AL at .405.

The matchup Sunday is the third time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Rafael Devers leads Boston with 22 home runs while slugging .586. Masataka Yoshida is 13-for-40 with two home runs and 11 RBI over the last 10 games.

Vinnie Pasquantino has 22 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 62 RBI while hitting .246 for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. is 17-for-40 with three doubles and four home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 7-3, .253 batting average, 3.48 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

Royals: 5-5, .256 batting average, 3.93 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

INJURIES: Red Sox: Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (elbow), Chris Martin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (rib), Vaughn Grissom: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Garrett Whitlock: 60-Day IL (oblique), Trevor Story: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Bryan Mata: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lucas Giolito: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Dan Altavilla: 60-Day IL (oblique), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press