Yankees vs. White Sox Preview
CHICAGO (AP) – With the way CC Sabathia is pitching and given his success against them, the Chicago White Sox are probably glad Monday will be last time this year they’ll have to face him.
Sabathia goes for his major league-leading 16th win as he and the New York Yankees open a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox.
New York’s ace continued an outstanding season by taking a no-hitter into the seventh against Seattle on Tuesday. Sabathia (15-5, 2.56 ERA) struck out a career-high 14, giving up one run and one hit in a 4-1 victory.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog have made the Yankees -169 money line favorites for Monday’s game against the White Sox. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 78% of more than 2,209 bets for this game have been placed on the Yankees -169.
Sabathia, vying with Detroit’s Justin Verlander and Los Angeles’ Jered Weaver for the AL Cy Young Award, is 6-1 with an 0.82 ERA in his last seven starts. This will be his second start versus the White Sox in 2011 after surrendering three unearned runs in seven innings of a 12-3 victory April 28.
“He used to throw real hard and have some dominant stuff,” Paul Konerko told the White Sox’s official website. “He still throws hard enough, but he’s really very well rounded. He has more of a repertoire now.”
Konerko and Chicago are well-versed in Sabathia’s talent – his dominance against them started as soon as he entered the league in 2001. Overall, Sabathia is 17-4 with a 3.68 ERA against the White Sox, tied for the most wins against any team he’s faced.
He may be facing a Chicago lineup without Konerko, who left Sunday’s 5-3 loss to Boston with a bruised calf after being hit with a pitch in the fourth. He left before the fifth inning, but X-rays were negative.
“I don’t expect him to be in the lineup to be honest with you,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.
Konerko is hitting .224 against Sabathia, but leads the White Sox with his .305 average, 25 homers and 76 RBIs.
With Chicago losing two of three to Boston, New York (64-42) is two games out of first in the AL East.
The Yankees took the final three of a four-game series with Baltimore after a 4-2 victory but lost Derek Jeter to a bruised middle finger after he was hit by a pitch. The veteran shortstop is day to day, but New York has gone 17-5 without him in the lineup this year.
After this series, New York has a key three-game series at Fenway Park.
“We’ve played pretty well on the road (27-20), and we need to continue to do that,” manager Joe Girardi said, “but I think it’s an important road trip.”
Jake Peavy (4-4, 5.27) takes the mound for Chicago.
He allowed four runs and 10 hits over six innings of a 5-4 loss to Detroit on Tuesday, although he didn’t factor in the decision.
Three of those runs came in the sixth. Teams are batting .426 (29 of 68) off the right-hander after his 75th pitch compared to .220 (43 of 195) before.
Peavy is 0-2 with a 3.60 ERA against the Yankees, last facing them in 2008 with San Diego.
He probably isn’t counting on much offensive support. The White Sox have scored 10 runs while hitting 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position the last four games. They are in third in the AL Central, four games behind division-leading Detroit.
“I thought going into spring training we had a good team and a good chance, but obviously we’re not in a good spot right now,” Sunday’s starter Mark Buehrle said.
Nick Swisher, who homered twice over the weekend, had two homers and went 5 for 13 at U.S. Cellular Field in 2010.
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