Fleming expected to start as Rays host the Red Sox

Boston Red Sox (63-41, first in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (61-42, second in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Martin Perez (7-6, 4.18 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 80 strikeouts) Rays: Josh Fleming (7-5, 4.07 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 44 strikeouts)

LINE: Rays -137, Red Sox +123; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay and Boston will face off on Friday.

The Rays are 31-20 in home games in 2020. Tampa Bay’s lineup has 130 home runs this season, Brandon Lowe leads the club with 22 homers.

The Red Sox have gone 30-19 away from home. Boston has slugged .441 this season. Rafael Devers leads the team with a mark of .592.

The Rays won the last meeting 1-0. J.P. Feyereisen notched his fourth victory and Manuel Margot went 1-for-1 for Tampa Bay. Matt Barnes registered his second loss for Boston.

TOP PERFORMERS: Austin Meadows leads the Rays with 44 extra base hits and is batting .243.

Devers leads the Red Sox with 27 home runs and is slugging .592.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 6-4, .256 batting average, 2.87 ERA, outscored opponents by 24 runs

Red Sox: 7-3, .259 batting average, 4.35 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

INJURIES: Rays: Ryan Thompson: (shoulder), Chaz Roe: (shoulder), Cody Reed: (thumb), Colin Poche: (elbow), Collin McHugh: (arm), Tyler Glasnow: (elbow), J.P. Feyereisen: (shoulder), Pete Fairbanks: (shoulder), Oliver Drake: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Chris Archer: (forearm), Nick Anderson: (elbow), Nelson Cruz: (foot).

Red Sox: Hirokazu Sawamura: (tricep), Chris Sale: (elbow), Ryan Brasier: (calf), Eduard Bazardo: (lat), Matt Andriese: (hamstring), Kyle Schwarber: (hamstring), Danny Santana: (groin), Marwin Gonzalez: (hamstring), Christian Arroyo: (hamstring).

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

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