Royals play the Red Sox following Keller's strong outing

Published

Kansas City Royals (40-73, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (59-55, third in the AL East)

Boston; Monday, 7 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Mike Montgomery (1-4, 6.34 ERA) Red Sox: Rick Porcello (9-8, 5.74 ERA)

LINE: Red Sox favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 11 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Brad Keller. Keller threw seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts against Minnesota.

The Red Sox are 27-29 on their home turf. Boston leads the league in hitting with a .274 batting average, Rafael Devers leads the club with an average of .321.

The Royals have gone 17-38 away from home. Kansas City has a collective .247 this season, led by Whit Merrifield with an average of .298.

TOP PERFORMERS: Devers leads the Red Sox with 84 RBIs and is batting .321. Andrew Benintendi is 20-for-43 with six doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games for Boston.

Jorge Soler leads the Royals with 52 extra base hits and is slugging .514. Hunter Dozier is 8-for-40 with a double, three home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 3-7, .306 batting average, 6.41 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

Royals: 1-9, .232 batting average, 6.26 ERA, outscored by 38 runs

Red Sox Injuries: Steven Wright: 10-day IL (toe), Heath Hembree: 10-day IL (elbow), Dustin Pedroia: 60-day IL (knee), Steve Pearce: 10-day IL (back).

Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Adalberto Mondesi: 10-day IL (shoulder), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).