Major League Baseball on Thursday night and I will have a Free Pick in the game between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox, which will be played at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. First pitch is scheduled for an 8:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
Cleveland -127
Chicago +117
Over/ Under: 8.5 U -125
This is game 4 of a 4 game series between these AL Central foes. The White Sox took game 1 of this series, but Cleveland has bounce back to win the last 2. Cleveland has won 4 of their last 6 overall, but are still in last place in the AL Central with a 16-23 record. The White Sox come in having won 6 of their last 8 games and are 18-19 on the year, which is good enough for 4th place in the AL Central.
Cleveland ranks 14th in scoring (4.28 rpg), 16th in hitting (.251) and 19th in homers (34) while on the mound they are 25th in ERA (4.37) and 22nd in WHIP (1.36). 11-5 in their last 16 during game 4 of a series and 27-13 in the last 40 meetings, but just 11-23 in their last 34 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
The White Sox rank 28th in scoring (3.73 rpg), 15th in hitting (.251) and 29th in homers (25), while on the mound they are 23rd in ERA (4.25) and 27th in WHIP (1.38). The White Sox are 7-2 in their last 9 home games with the total set at 7.0-8.5 and 6-1 in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % below .400, but just 7-19 in Danks' last 26 starts vs. a team with a losing record.
Getting the ball for Cleveland tonight will be Danny Salazar, who has gone 4-1 with a 4.06 ERA in 6 starts this year overall, while on the road he has gone 2-1 with a 4.38 ERA in 4 starts. Danny is 2-1 with a 5.09 ERA in 4 career start vs the White Sox, while at US Cellular he is 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA in 2 starts.
Getting the ball for the White Sox tonight will be John Danks, who is 2-3 with a 4.66 ERA in 7 starts this year overall, while at home he has gone 1-0 with a 3.32 ERA in 3 starts. John has had good success vs the A's, going 7-3 with a 2.40 ERA in 12 career starts vs them.
Pick: Going with the Over in this game. John Danks has nice career numbers vs the Tribe, but has not been pitching all that well this year and I see a Cleveland team that has plenty of op taking advantage here. Danny Salazar has 2-1 record vs the Sox, but with a high 5.09 ERA and he has a 6.14 ERA in 2 starts in this park. Both teams should be able to put up at least 4 runs each.
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