Red Sox and Guardians play to determine series winner

Updated Sep. 24, 2026 4:03 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Cleveland Guardians (82-76, first in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (85-73, third in the AL East)

Boston; Thursday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Daniel Espino (0-0, 4.73 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 22 strikeouts); Red Sox: Ranger Suarez (8-4, 3.27 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 135 strikeouts)

LINE: Red Sox -140, Guardians +116; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians play on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

Boston is 85-73 overall and 39-38 at home. The Red Sox have the ninth-best team batting average in MLB play at .247.

Cleveland is 82-76 overall and 41-36 in road games. Guardians hitters are batting a collective .238, which ranks 10th in the AL.

Thursday's game is the sixth time these teams meet this season. The Red Sox hold a 3-2 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Wilyer Abreu has 37 doubles, four triples and 24 home runs while hitting .253 for the Red Sox. Trevor Story is 11 for 37 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games.

Chase DeLauter leads the Guardians with a .290 batting average, and has 29 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs, 57 walks and 65 RBIs. Angel Martinez is 15 for 38 with three home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 5-5, .231 batting average, 2.71 ERA, outscored by one run

Guardians: 7-3, .261 batting average, 3.17 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs

INJURIES: Red Sox: Ceddanne Rafaela: day-to-day (hamstring), Willson Contreras: day-to-day (hand), Eli White: 10-Day IL (foot), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Masataka Yoshida: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Garrett Crochet: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Zack Kelly: 60-Day IL (elbow), Anthony Seigler: 10-Day IL (wrist), Curtis Mead: 10-Day IL (hand), Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (elbow), Eduardo Rivera: 60-Day IL (back), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (wrist), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Guardians: Rhys Hoskins: 10-Day IL (back), Colin Holderman: 15-Day IL (wrist)

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