Cleveland and Chicago got an unexpected off day on Monday as rain washed away any hopes of a game at Progressive Field. Now the July 28th White Sox at Indians betting matchup will be a traditional doubleheader with the first game getting underway at 3:40 PM EDT.
Lineups can be a bit tricky with the unscheduled doubleheader so a lot of Tuesday’s 1st game comes down to how the managers deploy their strategy. The White Sox may not even have their manager as Rick Renteria was not with the team Monday pending COVID tests and thus Cleveland is listed at -140. Chicago still has good value at +120 with the total listed at 9.5.
Can Chicago Continue Power Surge
One of the reasons to like Chicago July 28th White Sox at Indians betting is because they’ve been much better than their 1-2 start – on offense at least. Chicago is in a tie with the Twins with 7 HR over the first few games of the year. The Sox lost 10-5 and 14-2 vs. Minnesota but also scored a 10-3 win on Saturday.
Chicago might even have the better depth heading into Tuesday’s double header. They have six players who have hit a HR this season and also have six players who have a batting average above .300 after the first weekend of the year.
The White Sox will put up some runs here, but how many will they give up? Chicago pitchers gave up 27 runs in three games to the Twins – albeit one of the best offenses in baseball. Dylan Cease starts the early game Tuesday coming off a 4-7 rookie season a year ago with an ERA of 5.79. Cease had the best game of his career last season vs. the Indians striking out 11 in 6.2 IP but he also allowed 4 ER.
Indians Had Their Struggles vs. White Sox Last Year
Cleveland finished in 2nd place in the Central in 2019, 20.5 games ahead of the 3rd place White Sox. That being said, Chicago actually won the head-to-head series 11-8. The .421 win percentage for Cleveland in the series was their 3rd worst vs. any A.L. team behind Oakland and Tampa Bay.
The Indians have started the year 2-1 but that’s actually disappointing considering they opened up with Kansas City, a team who lost 103 games a year ago. The Cleveland offense was sputtering in the first two games scoring a combined four runs but rebounded nicely Sunday in a 9-2 win. The current Cleveland roster scored just 3 hits in their 15 ABs vs. Cease in last year’s start although Francisco Lindor did go deep.
Like Chicago, Cleveland will also start a 2nd year pitcher when Aaron Civale gets the ball. Civale was 3-4 a year ago but his ERA was impressive at just 2.34. Civale’s last regular season start was against the White Sox on September 26th where he allowed 4ER in 3.1 IP. Civale served up 2HRs in that outing.
July 28th White Sox at Indians Betting Pick
Double headers are a bit tough to call as teams could go full on with their regular roster in both games or choose one of the contests for rest. Either way, Chicago seems like a solid pick. The Sox have depth and just happened to run into a buzzsaw over the weekend vs. the Twins. The Indians offense hasn’t looked nearly as capable as Minnesota’s but the Sox put up runs against good Twins pitching.
Pick: White Sox +120
