Red Sox meet the Tigers with 1-0 series lead

Detroit Tigers (86-74, second in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (88-72, third in the AL East)

Boston; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Tigers: TBD; Red Sox: Connelly Early (1-1, 1.88 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 22 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox face the Detroit Tigers with a 1-0 series lead.

Boston has an 88-72 record overall and a 47-32 record in home games. The Red Sox have a 65-29 record in games when they record at least eight hits.

Detroit has a 40-39 record in road games and an 86-74 record overall. Tigers hitters are batting a collective .247, which ranks seventh in the AL.

The teams meet Saturday for the fifth time this season. The Tigers are up 3-1 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Alex Bregman has 28 doubles, 18 home runs and 62 RBIs for the Red Sox. Rob Refsnyder is 5 for 23 with a double and two home runs over the past 10 games.

Zach McKinstry leads the Tigers with a .261 batting average, and has 23 doubles, 11 triples, 12 home runs, 46 walks and 49 RBIs. Gleyber Torres is 12 for 41 with a home run and two RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 6-4, .265 batting average, 3.34 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Tigers: 1-9, .215 batting average, 4.80 ERA, outscored by 28 runs

INJURIES: Red Sox: Brennan Bernardino: 15-Day IL (lat), Vaughn Grissom: 60-Day IL (foot), Dustin May: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jordan Hicks: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Roman Anthony: 10-Day IL (oblique), Hunter Dobbins: 60-Day IL (acl), Marcelo Mayer: 60-Day IL (wrist), Richard Fitts: 15-Day IL (biceps), Luis Guerrero: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (flexor), Liam Hendriks: 60-Day IL (hip), Josh Winckowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (knee), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Tigers: Colt Keith: 10-Day IL (rib cage), Sawyer Gipson-Long: 15-Day IL (neck), Beau Brieske: 60-Day IL (forearm), Matt Vierling: 10-Day IL (oblique), Reese Olson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Sean Guenther: 60-Day IL (hip), Jackson Jobe: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jason Foley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Cobb: 60-Day IL (hip), Ty Madden: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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