MLB odds Preview: White Sox Begin Homestand Against Mariners
The bullet train that was the Chicago White Sox has slowed after earning just four wins on a recent 10-game trek. The South Siders hope to get back on track back at home this week.
There are several exciting races going on in baseball right, perhaps none better than the three-team battle in the AL Central. Monday finds the White Sox home and with a great schedule to take some of the excitement out of that division.
Chicago has been on the road since the All-Star break and comes back to Second City following a disappointing 4-6 trip after dropping two of three in Oakland this weekend. The Sox' excursion included stops in Minnesota and Seattle. Ozzie Guillen's squad opens a seven-game homestand with a return match against the Mariners before the A's come to Chicago for three this weekend.
With the Tigers and Twins both missing some key hitters from their lineups, the ChiSox can't afford to fall flat on their home diamond the next seven days. The White Sox enter the week with a slim one-game lead over the Twins and two games over third-place Detroit.
Monday's series opener will feature the top pitching matchup of the series with Seattle's Felix Hernandez facing Chicago's John Danks. Sunday afternoon's early MLB odds opened with the White Sox favored anywhere from minus 125 to minus 140. The total came out with a tiny 6½ figure, the 'over' priced minus 115.
It's the third series of the season between the two clubs with Chicago winning five of the six games. The Pale Hose swept three from the M's in April at The Cell, carrying chalk into all three games and winning all three by a single run.
The first two contests in that series went 'over.' The finale and all three games in Seattle last week cashed in favor of 'under' bettors.
Danks (11-8, 3.37) has been the winning pitcher in two of Chicago's five victories against the Mariners this season. The southpaw earned a 3-2 win in Chicago back in April tossing eight frames and allowing two runs on seven hits. Last Tuesday at Safeco he worked into the eighth, allowing no runs on just two hits.
Chicago has won three of Danks' last four Seattle assignments while he's recorded a miniscule 1.13 ERA over 31 2/3 innings. Danks has decisioned in each of his last 14 trips to the mound and is currently riding a three-game winning streak.
The only time Seattle has beaten Chicago in 2010, Hernandez (9-11, 2.75) was the starting pitcher. The staff ace worked eight scoreless innings last Wednesday in Seattle, giving up just two hits and striking out eight before exiting the 0-0 deadlock. The Mariners eventually won the game in the 11th, 2-1, to help save their backers who laid 135 chalk on the game.
Hernandez last took to the mound in Chicago in late-April 2009, tossing a gem. The right-hander yielded just four hits and nary a plate crossing in a 9-1 Seattle win. That snapped a three-game losing streak for Hernandez at US Cellular. His previous three starts here totaled 15 innings with the Sox plating 11 runs.
There is a slight chance of rain in the Chicago area on Monday, but nothing that should affect this contest. Forecasters are calling for a game-time thermometer reading in the mid-to-upper 70s with an ESE breeze (in from left-center).
The series continues Tuesday with the South Siders having a definite advantage on the mound in a pitching rematch from an April 23 meeting. Seattle is scheduled to send left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith (3-15, 6.27) to the US Cellular mound against Gavin Floyd (8-12, 3.87) for the ChiSox. The Mariners have dropped Rowland-Smith's last six starts with the Aussie sporting a 6.82 ERA in that stretch.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season.
The bullet train that was the Chicago White Sox has slowed after earning just four wins on a recent 10-game trek. The South Siders hope to get back on track back at home this week.
There are several exciting races going on in baseball right, perhaps none better than the three-team battle in the AL Central. Monday finds the White Sox home and with a great schedule to take some of the excitement out of that division.
Chicago has been on the road since the All-Star break and comes back to Second City following a disappointing 4-6 trip after dropping two of three in Oakland this weekend. The Sox' excursion included stops in Minnesota and Seattle. Ozzie Guillen's squad opens a seven-game homestand with a return match against the Mariners before the A's come to Chicago for three this weekend.
With the Tigers and Twins both missing some key hitters from their lineups, the ChiSox can't afford to fall flat on their home diamond the next seven days. The White Sox enter the week with a slim one-game lead over the Twins and two games over third-place Detroit.
Monday's series opener will feature the top pitching matchup of the series with Seattle's Felix Hernandez facing Chicago's John Danks. Sunday afternoon's early MLB odds opened with the White Sox favored anywhere from minus 125 to minus 140. The total came out with a tiny 6½ figure, the 'over' priced minus 115.
It's the third series of the season between the two clubs with Chicago winning five of the six games. The Pale Hose swept three from the M's in April at The Cell, carrying chalk into all three games and winning all three by a single run.
The first two contests in that series went 'over.' The finale and all three games in Seattle last week cashed in favor of 'under' bettors.
Danks (11-8, 3.37) has been the winning pitcher in two of Chicago's five victories against the Mariners this season. The southpaw earned a 3-2 win in Chicago back in April tossing eight frames and allowing two runs on seven hits. Last Tuesday at Safeco he worked into the eighth, allowing no runs on just two hits.
Chicago has won three of Danks' last four Seattle assignments while he's recorded a miniscule 1.13 ERA over 31 2/3 innings. Danks has decisioned in each of his last 14 trips to the mound and is currently riding a three-game winning streak.
The only time Seattle has beaten Chicago in 2010, Hernandez (9-11, 2.75) was the starting pitcher. The staff ace worked eight scoreless innings last Wednesday in Seattle, giving up just two hits and striking out eight before exiting the 0-0 deadlock. The Mariners eventually won the game in the 11th, 2-1, to help save their backers who laid 135 chalk on the game.
Hernandez last took to the mound in Chicago in late-April 2009, tossing a gem. The right-hander yielded just four hits and nary a plate crossing in a 9-1 Seattle win. That snapped a three-game losing streak for Hernandez at US Cellular. His previous three starts here totaled 15 innings with the Sox plating 11 runs.
There is a slight chance of rain in the Chicago area on Monday, but nothing that should affect this contest. Forecasters are calling for a game-time thermometer reading in the mid-to-upper 70s with an ESE breeze (in from left-center).
The series continues Tuesday with the South Siders having a definite advantage on the mound in a pitching rematch from an April 23 meeting. Seattle is scheduled to send left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith (3-15, 6.27) to the US Cellular mound against Gavin Floyd (8-12, 3.87) for the ChiSox. The Mariners have dropped Rowland-Smith's last six starts with the Aussie sporting a 6.82 ERA in that stretch.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season.
