Game: Chicago White Sox @ Cleveland Guardians
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
Odds: White Sox -115, Guardians -105
Total: 8.5
Cleveland has won two of their first three games in their current series with the White Sox. That has helped the Guardians take control of second place in the AL Central Division. Cleveland is now 3.5 games behind division leader Minnesota and the Guardians have a 1.5-game lead over Chicago, which is third. Cleveland can increase that lead with another win tonight.
The Guardians won the first two games of the series and in the second game of a doubleheader yesterday they fell victim to Chicago’s Dylan Cease. He struck out nine as the White Sox won 7-0. Tonight, it will be Lucas Giolito for Chicago going up against Cleveland’s Aaron Civale. Both pitchers are certainly capable, but it is Civale who has been pitching better as of late.
Civale is just 2-5 with a 6.28 ERA, but the reason his numbers are so terrible is due to an extremely bad April. In four starts in the opening month of the 2022 season, Civale pitched a total of 14.1 innings and allowed 17 earned runs. He never made it past the fourth inning in four starts. In July so far, Civale has been much better with a 3.46 ERA and a WHIP of 1.00.
Giolito has started 15 games for Chicago this season and he is 5-5 with a 5.05 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. His numbers have actually been getting worse as the season wears on. In three starts in April, Giolito gave up just four earned runs in 14 innings. In his last six starts, the White Sox have won just once. In those six starts, Giolito has allowed a total of 27 earned runs. In back-to-back starts against Houston and Toronto, he gave up 8 and 7 earned runs.
Neither team’s offense is all that impressive. They are both average in terms of runs per game with Chicago ranking 18th at 4.28 and Cleveland one spot ahead in 17th at 4.30. The two teams are right in the middle of the MLB pack in other offensive categories like OBP and OPS too.
Jose Ramirez continues to lead Cleveland. Ramirez is batting .289 with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs. His RBI total puts him in the top-5 in MLB. Veteran Jose Abreu is hitting .297 with 11 homers for the White Sox and teammate Luis Robert is batting .290 and also has 11 home runs. Chicago has struggled through some injuries to key players and has been a disappointment after winning the division in 2021.
Cleveland is 3-7 SU in its last 10 games, but the Guardians are 5-1 SU in their last six at home against the White Sox. Chicago is 4-2 SU in its last six road games but just 1-5 SU on the road in Cleveland. The total has gone Under in four of Chicago’s last five games. The Under has hit in eight of the Guardians’ last 12 games.