White Sox vs. Blue Jays Preview
TORONTO, Ont. (AP) – The Chicago White Sox continue to be puzzled by the woes of Alex Rios. Perhaps he will show signs of life against his former team, judging by how he fared versus the Toronto Blue Jays last season.
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Coming off their first series loss in nearly a month, the White Sox hope Rios will start to get untracked in the opener of a four-game set in Toronto on Thursday night.
Chicago (23-28) lost two of three in Texas, falling 2-1 on Wednesday. The White Sox had won five series and split the other one since getting swept in two games by Minnesota from May 3-4.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com have made the Blue Jays -130 money line favorites for Thursday’s game against the White Sox. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 91% of more than 47 bets for this game have been placed on the White Sox +120.
Rios went 0 for 4 on Wednesday to drop his average to .165 on the road. Chicago is having trouble figuring out the problems of the outfielder, who finished second on the team with 88 RBIs and third with 21 homers in 2010.
“That’s the question we ask every day,” manager Ozzie Guillen told the White Sox’s official website. “Maybe he has one good at-bat a game. He’s practicing, he’s having good at-bats.”
Chicago acquired Rios off waivers from Toronto (24-25) on Aug. 10, 2009. He did not get the chance to face his former team until 2010, when he hit safely in all eight meetings with a .382 average, three homers and five RBIs.
The White Sox went 3-5 against the Blue Jays last year after going 2-13 over the previous two. Chicago had lost 10 straight at Rogers Centre before splitting four games April 12-15, 2010.
Last season, Chicago was the only AL team that major league home run leader Jose Bautista failed to go deep against. Bautista went 5 for 27 with 10 walks in the series.
The slugger is mired in a 6-for-27 slump over his last eight games after going 1 for 3 in Wednesday’s 7-3 road loss to the Yankees.
“When it comes to my at-bats, I should have done a better job,” Bautista said. “I failed twice with men in scoring position.”
Bautista has never faced Phil Humber (3-3, 3.10 ERA), who will start Thursday and leads all Chicago starters with a .191 opponent batting average. The right-hander yielded two runs over seven innings Friday in a 6-4, 10-inning loss to the Dodgers.
Humber has never started against the Blue Jays, allowing four runs in 2 1-3 innings over two appearances.
He’ll be opposed by Brandon Morrow (2-2, 5.06), who is 0-1 with an 8.38 ERA in two career starts versus the White Sox. Rios is 2 for 9 with five strikeouts against Morrow.
The right-hander did not receive a decision after allowing season highs of four runs and nine hits over six-plus innings in a 7-5 victory over Houston on Saturday.
Adam Dunn will likely be back in Chicago’s lineup after not starting Wednesday against left-hander C.J. Wilson. He’s batting .191 with a major league-high 61 strikeouts.
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