After going 4-2 on their road trip to Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the Red Sox are home and looking to give Fenway the caliber of play the old ballpark deserves.

The Sox went 3-7 in their first homestand, and 39-42 at home last season. They’re 4-4 in series openers this year.

They’ll host the Chicago Cubs for three games over the weekend, then enjoy a day off on Monday before the San Francisco Giants arrive for three games.

Though they’re two of Major League Baseball’s oldest franchises, the Red Sox and Cubs have only faced each other 21 times in the regular season; Chicago has a slim 11-10 advantage. They’ve met in the postseason once, when Boston took the 1918 World Series four games to two.

Red Sox starting pitchers

Kutter Crawford and his MLB-best 0.66 ERA (among qualified pitchers) have the ball for Friday night’s series opener.

The right-hander is coming off his second quality start of the season; he allowed one earned run on seven hits, three walks, and struck out six Pirates over six. It was his first time giving up more than three hits this season, but he’s yet to allow more than one run, earned or otherwise.

According to the club’s media relations department, Crawford, Roger Clemens (1991), Dave Ferris (‘45), and Lefty Grove (‘36) are the only four Red Sox pitchers to post sub-0.70 ERAs over their first five starts of the season in the Live-Ball Era (since 1920). He also hasn’t allowed a home run in his last 43 ⅔ innings, the longest active streak for a Major League starter.

Crawford has made one career start against the Cubs, a six-inning, one-hit, shutout performance last July 16 in which he issued four walks, hit a batter, and struck out a career-high nine batters.

Josh Winckowski and Tanner Houck will start the remaining two games of the series, on Saturday (4:10 p.m.) and Sunday (7:10 p.m.).

Cubs starting pitchers

Crawford will square off against Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga, 30, whose MLB career is off to a near-perfect start.

The Red Sox are 3-3 against starting southpaws, and Imanaga won’t be an easy target. The newcomer, who left Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league to sign a two-year, $22.5 million contract during the offseason, is 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA, 21 strikeouts, and only two walks and two earned runs (one homer) over 21 ⅓ innings.

The Cubs have not announced a starter for Saturday, but Jordan Wicks is scheduled to take the mound for the Sunday Night Baseball series finale.

Red Sox lineup

Check back later for the Red Sox lineup.

Cubs lineup

Check back later for the Cubs lineup.

Red Sox injury updates

Vaughn Grissom (groin) is on track to be activated from the injured list and make his Red Sox debut during the second series of the homestand, against the San Francisco Giants next Tuesday-Thursday.

Cubs injury updates

The Cubs placed outfielder Cody Bellinger on the 10-day IL this week with a pair of fractured ribs on his right side.

To fill Bellinger’s spot on the active roster, they called up their top prospect, Pete Crow-Armstrong, on Wednesday. MLB Pipeline ranks the 22-year-old outfielder as the No. 15 prospect in baseball.

Crow-Armstrong debuted last Sept. 11, but went hitless in 13 big-league games. On Thursday, he finally collected his first hit: a two-run go-ahead homer that made the difference in the Cubs’ 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field.

Fun fact: he’s the son of actress Ashley Crow, who played the mother in the 1994 film “Little Big League.”

How to watch Red Sox vs Cubs

TV: NESN (Red Sox), Marquee Sports Network (Cubs)

The series finale is the Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN.

Blackout restrictions may impact streaming.

Radio: WEEI 93.7, WCCM 1490 AM (Spanish), 670 The Score (Cubs)

Upcoming Red Sox games

The Red Sox have an off-day on Monday, then finish up their second homestand with a three-game set against the Giants and Mike Yastrzemski.