The Thursday May 23rd Orioles at White Sox betting matchup seems like an easy win for 29-18 Baltimore – or does it? The O’s are having a great year (and Chicago is not) but they also just got swept at St. Louis which makes their -250 price tag in the series opener a bit volatile.
The White Sox are 3-4 over their last 7 games, which for this 15-35 team is a good mark. The +205 on Chicago is pretty high, but it could be doable even though an insane 88% of the public bettors are on Baltimore early.
Why Baltimore Has Value on Thursday
The #1 reason to wager on the Orioles in this matchup is….because they aren’t the White Sox. Chicago has been historically bad this season with the fewest wins in MLB (15) and having lost four of their last five.
The Orioles enter this 4-game series knowing they can make up some ground on the Yankees (3 GB) who have a West Coast road trip until early June. Baltimore has to be thinking that anything less than a sweep on the South Side would be a failure and they have the scoring offense (5th) and pitching ERA (6th) to do just that.
Grayson Rodriguez (4-1, 3.15 ERA) will try to bring home the -250 for Baltimore on Thursday. The right-hander has gone two straight outings with 0 ER allowed and against two solid offenses in the Yankees and the Mariners.
Why the White Sox Have Value on Thursday
Chicago at +205 is basically a lottery ticket where you can double your money on a significant home underdog. Make no mistake the Sox are 4 games under .500 at Guaranteed Rate Field and the worst team in baseball, but there are a few things in their favor.
Rodriguez has been solid for Baltimore as of late – but he wasn’t even scheduled to be the starter for this game until the O’s used Cole Irvin on Wednesday. The Orioles are thrown off their schedule because their Tuesday night game in St. Louis was suspended due to the weather, so they basically had to play a game-and-a-half on Wednesday. That can only help Chicago.
Veteran Mike Clevinger (0-2, 5.56 ERA) takes the bump for Chicago on Thursday and although his numbers are atrocious he’ll at least give you about 5 innings pitched. Clevinger has three starts this season, but his lone home outing was good with 1 ER over 4.2 IP allowed to the 1st place Guardians and the Sox won 3-1.
Free May 23rd Orioles at White Sox Betting Pick
Laying the -250 on Baltimore – on a three game losing streak and having to play essentially a double header on Wednesday – is reckless. Don’t make it a huge play, but Chicago is worth a shot here.
Free Pick: White Sox +205
