Irvin expected to start as Oakland hosts Boston

Updated Jul. 3, 2021 3:40 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Boston Red Sox (52-31, first in the AL East) vs. Oakland Athletics (48-36, second in the AL West)

Oakland, California; Saturday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Garrett Richards (4-5, 4.96 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 67 strikeouts) Athletics: Cole Irvin (6-7, 3.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 68 strikeouts)

LINE: Athletics -131, Red Sox +114; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Oakland and Boston will face off on Saturday.

The Athletics are 26-21 in home games in 2020. Oakland hitters have posted a team on-base percentage of .313 this season, led by Mark Canha with a mark of .375.

The Red Sox are 25-14 in road games. The Boston offense has compiled a .261 batting average as a team this season, Xander Bogaerts leads the team with a mark of .324.

The Red Sox won the last meeting 3-2. Matt Barnes earned his fourth victory and Rafael Devers went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Boston. Lou Trivino took his third loss for Oakland.

TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Olson leads the Athletics with 38 extra base hits and is batting .284.

Bogaerts leads the Red Sox with 95 hits and has 48 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 4-6, .218 batting average, 3.63 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

Red Sox: 8-2, .286 batting average, 2.61 ERA, outscored opponents by 25 runs

INJURIES: Athletics: Trevor Rosenthal: (chest), Mike Fiers: (right elbow), Stephen Piscotty: (wrist), Mark Canha: (hip).

Red Sox: Chris Sale: (elbow), Ryan Brasier: (left calf), Bobby Dalbec: (hamstring), Christian Arroyo: (knee), Kevin Plawecki: (hamstring).

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