Overview
The Boston Red Sox are in Chicago for the first game of a three game series with the White Sox. The White Sox haven’t had much luck versus the Red Sox over the last few seasons but so far this season they have played them well winning 3 of the 4 meetings.
Head to Head Trends
Over is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
Under is 3-1-1 in the last 5 meetings in Chicago.
Chicago White Sox (-139)
The Chicago White Sox are 4th in the Central Division 16.5 games out of 1st place and they are 5.5 games back in thew wild card standings so they’re going to need to get hot soon if they want to make a run for the post season. The White Sox got super hot back at the end of July when a bunch of their hitters got hot at the same time and after not scoring many runs for the first few weeks of August it looks like the Whites Sox bats are heating up again scoring 31 runs over their last 4 games.
On the hill for the White Sox today is Jeff Samardzija who is 8-9 with a 4.64 ERA on the season. Samardzija pitched pretty good for most of the season but he did get smoked in the 3 starts prior to his has last start which he was back to his old dominant self again.
Chicago White Sox Trends
White Sox are 4-0 in Samardzijas last 4 starts vs. a team with a losing record.
White Sox are 9-4 in their last 13 vs. a team with a losing record.
Boston Red Sox (+129)
The Boston Red Sox are last in the American League East a full 13 games back of the 1st place Toronto Blue Jays. The Red Sox are hitting the ball much better of late but their pitching has also gotten worse. Actually the Red Sox have the third worst pitching staff in baseball ahead of just the Phillies and Rockies.
Taking the mound for the Red Sox today is Joe Kelly who is 6-6 with a 5.37 ERA on the season. Kelly has been absolutely horrible in general this season but he has pitched surprisingly well over his last couple starts allowing just 1 earned run over 12 innings of work.
Boston Red Sox Trends
Red Sox are 3-12 in their last 15 road games.
Red Sox are 1-4 in Kellys last 5 road starts.
Conclusion
I like the Chicago White Sox over the Red Sox in this one. Neither team is all that good but a good strategy late in the season is to fade teams with a lot of injuries and right now the Red Sox have 9 guys on the disabled list with a few of them key guys while the White Sox have just 1 below average relief pitcher on the DL.
Free Pick: Chicago White Sox -139
