Preview: Charlie Morton aims to help Rays bounce back vs. Red Sox

Published Apr. 20, 2019 9:08 p.m. ET

TV: FOX Sports Sun

TIME: Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 p.m.

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Boston Red Sox (7-13, fifth in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (14-6, first in the AL East)

PITCHING PROBABLES

Red Sox: Rick Porcello (0-3, 11.12 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 10 strikeouts)

Rays: Charlie Morton (0-0, 2.18 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 25 strikeouts)

LINE

Rays favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE

Division rivals Tampa Bay and Boston will play on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

The Rays are 4-3 against teams from the AL East. Tampa Bay's team on-base percentage of .341 is fourth in the league. Austin Meadows leads the club with an OBP of .408.

The Red Sox are 4-5 against teams from the AL East. The Boston pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 5.91. Nathan Eovaldi leads the team with a 6.00 earned run average. The Red Sox won the last meeting 6-4. Brandon Workman earned his first victory and Christian Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Boston. Diego Castillo took his second loss for Tampa Bay.

TOP PERFORMERS

Brandon Lowe leads the Rays with six home runs and is slugging .594. Meadows is 17-for-36 with three doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.

Mitch Moreland leads the Red Sox with 11 extra base hits and has 13 RBIs. Vazquez is 8-for-34 with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Boston.

LAST 10 GAMES

Rays: 7-3, .295 batting average, 3.46 ERA, outscored opponents by 29 runs

Red Sox: 5-5, .219 batting average, 4.91 ERA, outscored by 13 runs

Rays Injuries: Blake Snell: 10-day IL (toe), Jose De Leon: 60-day IL (elbow), Anthony Banda: 60-day IL (elbow), Joey Wendle: 10-day IL (hamstring), Matt Duffy: 10-day IL (back).

Red Sox Injuries: Brian Johnson: 10-day IL (elbow), Dustin Pedroia: 10-day IL (knee), Eduardo Nunez: 10-day IL (back), Brock Holt: 10-day IL (eye), Marco Hernandez: 10-day IL (shoulder).