Red Sox begin 4-game series at home against the Yankees

New York Yankees (48-31, first in the AL East) vs. Boston Red Sox (32-46, fifth in the AL East)

Boston; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Yankees: Cam Schlittler (8-3, 1.71 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 109 strikeouts); Red Sox: Connelly Early (6-5, 3.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 79 strikeouts)

LINE: Yankees -166, Red Sox +135; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees on Thursday to open a four-game series.

Boston is 32-46 overall and 12-25 in home games. The Red Sox have the fourth-ranked team ERA in the AL at 3.83.

New York has a 48-31 record overall and a 26-16 record on the road. The Yankees have the second-ranked team on-base percentage in the AL at .329.

The matchup Thursday is the sixth meeting between these teams this season. The Yankees have a 4-1 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Willson Contreras leads the Red Sox with 31 extra base hits (13 doubles, two triples and 16 home runs). Caleb Durbin is 11 for 35 with three doubles, two home runs and four RBI over the past 10 games.

Ben Rice has a .286 batting average to lead the Yankees, and has 15 doubles, two triples and 22 home runs. Paul Goldschmidt is 14 for 41 with five home runs and eight RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 3-7, .232 batting average, 3.52 ERA, outscored by five runs

Yankees: 6-4, .267 batting average, 3.44 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

INJURIES: Red Sox: Caleb Durbin: day-to-day (finger), Jovani Moran: 15-Day IL (elbow), Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 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), Romy Gonzalez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Roman Anthony: 10-Day IL (wrist), Trevor Story: 60-Day IL (abdomen), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (wrist), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Yankees: Ryan McMahon: 10-Day IL (throat), Trent Grisham: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Giancarlo Stanton: 10-Day IL (leg), Max Fried: 15-Day IL (elbow), Aaron Judge: 10-Day IL (rib), Clarke Schmidt: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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