Red Sox and Nationals meet, winner claims 3-game series

Washington Nationals (44-43, fourth in the NL East) vs. Boston Red Sox (37-47, fifth in the AL East)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Nationals: Andrew Alvarez (1-1, 3.44 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 42 strikeouts); Red Sox: Payton Tolle (4-5, 2.78 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 69 strikeouts)

LINE: Red Sox -152, Nationals +124; over/under is 10 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Nationals are looking for a series win with a victory on Wednesday.

Boston has a 17-26 record in home games and a 37-47 record overall. The Red Sox are 26-9 in games when they scored at least five runs.

Washington has a 44-43 record overall and a 27-18 record on the road. Nationals hitters have a collective .422 slugging percentage to rank second in the NL.

Wednesday's game is the third meeting between these teams this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Willson Contreras leads the Red Sox with 34 extra base hits (14 doubles, two triples and 18 home runs). Caleb Durbin is 13 for 34 with three doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over the past 10 games.

James Wood leads the Nationals with 21 home runs while slugging .513. Luis Garcia is 12 for 30 with three doubles, six home runs and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 6-4, .232 batting average, 2.86 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Nationals: 4-6, .241 batting average, 4.81 ERA, outscored by four runs

INJURIES: Red Sox: Jovani Moran: 15-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Story: 60-Day IL (abdomen), Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 10-Day IL (forearm), Connelly Early: day-to-day (elbow), Roman Anthony: 60-Day IL (wrist), Marcelo Mayer: 10-Day IL (forearm), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Nick Sogard: 10-Day IL (oblique), Garrett Crochet: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (wrist), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Nationals: Richard Lovelady: 15-Day IL (tricep), Mitchell Parker: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jake Irvin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (forearm), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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