Red Sox aim to stop 5-game road skid, play the Cardinals

Boston Red Sox (4-8, fifth in the AL East) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (7-5, fourth in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Connelly Early (0-0, 2.89 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 10 strikeouts); Cardinals: Dustin May (0-2, 15.95 ERA, 2.73 WHIP, seven strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox will aim to end a five-game road skid when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis has gone 4-2 at home and 7-5 overall. The Cardinals have hit 13 total home runs to rank sixth in the majors.

Boston has gone 1-5 on the road and 4-8 overall. Red Sox hitters have a collective .310 on-base percentage, the eighth-ranked percentage in the AL.

The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jordan Walker has two doubles, five home runs and 12 RBIs for the Cardinals. Nolan Gorman is 7 for 30 with two home runs and five RBIs over the last 10 games.

Ceddanne Rafaela has a home run and four RBIs for the Red Sox. Wilyer Abreu is 15 for 38 with three doubles, a triple and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .212 batting average, 4.90 ERA, outscored by six runs

Red Sox: 3-7, .218 batting average, 4.71 ERA, outscored by 13 runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Matt Pushard: 15-Day IL (knee), Hunter Dobbins: 15-Day IL (knee), Lars Nootbaar: 60-Day IL (heels)

Red Sox: Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (oblique), Johan Oviedo: 15-Day IL (elbow), Patrick Sandoval: 15-Day IL (elbow), Kutter Crawford: 15-Day IL (wrist), Anthony Seigler: 10-Day IL (knee), Triston Casas: 10-Day IL (knee), Romy Gonzalez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tanner Houck: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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