Royals take on the Red Sox in first of 3-game series

Boston Red Sox (59-51, third in the AL East) vs. Kansas City Royals (63-50, third in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Monday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: James Paxton (8-3, 4.52 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 69 strikeouts); Royals: Brady Singer (8-6, 2.88 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 115 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Royals -146, Red Sox +123; over/under is 10 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals host the Boston Red Sox to open a three-game series.

Kansas City has gone 36-22 at home and 63-50 overall. The Royals have the ninth-ranked team on-base percentage in the AL at .310.

Boston has a 59-51 record overall and a 32-23 record on the road. The Red Sox are fourth in the AL with 140 total home runs, averaging 1.3 per game.

Monday's game is the fourth time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Salvador Perez leads Kansas City with 20 home runs while slugging .472. Vinnie Pasquantino is 14-for-43 with four home runs and 13 RBI over the last 10 games.

Tyler O'Neill has 16 doubles and 22 home runs for the Red Sox. Wilyer Abreu is 12-for-30 with three doubles and four home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 7-3, .276 batting average, 3.55 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs

Red Sox: 5-5, .316 batting average, 6.60 ERA, outscored by nine runs

INJURIES: Royals: John Schreiber: 15-Day IL (knee), Dan Altavilla: 60-Day IL (oblique), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Red Sox: Bryan Mata: 60-Day IL (hamstring), 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), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lucas Giolito: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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