Minnesota Twins (23-27, third in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (22-27, fourth in the AL East)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Connor Prielipp (1-2, 2.88 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 29 strikeouts); Red Sox: Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.05 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 30 strikeouts)

LINE: Red Sox -154, Twins +128; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox open a three-game series at home against the Minnesota Twins on Friday.

Boston has a 22-27 record overall and an 8-14 record in home games. Red Sox hitters are batting a collective .240, which ranks fifth in the AL.

Minnesota has an 8-13 record in road games and a 23-27 record overall. The Twins are 16-6 in games when they scored five or more runs.

The teams square off Friday for the fourth time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Willson Contreras has six doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 30 RBI while hitting .269 for the Red Sox. Ceddanne Rafaela is 12 for 35 with four doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Byron Buxton leads the Twins with 15 home runs while slugging .576. Kody Clemens is 13 for 38 with six doubles, a home run and three RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 5-5, .260 batting average, 2.43 ERA, outscored by two runs

Twins: 6-4, .245 batting average, 2.50 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs

INJURIES: Red Sox: Roman Anthony: 10-Day IL (wrist), Danny Coulombe: 15-Day IL (cervical spasms), Trevor Story: 10-Day IL (groin), Kutter Crawford: 15-Day IL (wrist), Garrett Crochet: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Johan Oviedo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Romy Gonzalez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Twins: David Festa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Garrett Acton: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Jeffers: 10-Day IL (hand), Cole Sands: 15-Day IL (forearm), Cody Laweryson: 15-Day IL (forearm), Mick Abel: 15-Day IL (elbow), Taj Bradley: 15-Day IL (pectoral), Pablo Lopez: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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