Do Or Die For Sox
The Chicago White Sox continue to be at their best when facing elimination.
The White Sox look for a second straight home victory to even their AL division series when they face the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 on Monday.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Chicago -125 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 8.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 61% of bets for this game have been placed on Chicago-125 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Playing to keep its season alive is nothing new for Chicago. Last week, the White Sox won three straight home contests just to reach the postseason.
The White Sox beat Cleveland on the final Sunday of the regular season to remain one-half game behind Minnesota in the AL Central. Chicago then beat Detroit last Monday in the makeup contest to force a one-game playoff Tuesday with the Twins for the division title.
John Danks, who stymied Minnesota in a 1-0 victory to claim the title in that contest, was the winner in Chicago’s 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay in Game 3 on Sunday to stave off elimination after the Rays won the first two games at home of the best-of-five series.
A possible Game 5 would be Wednesday in St. Petersburg.
"We put ourselves in a tough situation both times. So we’ve done it before and definitely capable of doing it again," Chicago’s scheduled Monday starter Gavin Floyd said. "I think we have the team to do it."
Less than 24 hours after the Cubs were swept out of the postseason by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago’s AL club won its first postseason contest since sweeping Houston to win the World Series in 2005.
A.J. Pierzynski and Ken Griffey Jr., each had two hits while Dewayne Wise’s two-run double highlighted a three-run fourth inning for the White Sox, whose run total Sunday was one fewer than they posted in the first two games of the series.
Wise hit a three-run homer in Game 1 for his only other hit in five at-bats in the series. Pierzynski, meanwhile, is 5-for-10 with a double in the postseason.
Chicago went 54-28 at home during the regular season, compared to 35-46 on the road.
While the White Sox still trail in the series, the young Rays try to rebound and advance to the AL Championship Series after failing to become the fifth team to sweep its first postseason series.
"To think that you are just going to waltz through this whole thing is not a good thought," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, whose team went 40-41 on the road during the regular season. "It’s very unreasonable. They’re very good. They have faced some difficult moments recently in this ballpark and have done well."
Now, Chicago turns to another of its young arms in 25-year-old Gavin Floyd, who makes his postseason debut after going 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 33 starts this season.
In front of a small, but passionate home crowd, Floyd allowed one earned run and five hits while striking out eight in six innings of the White Sox’s 8-2 win over the Tigers last Monday. With a packed house assured for Game 4, Floyd hopes to feed off that energy as he faces Tampa Bay for the first time.
"The fans have always been great. The atmosphere has been great here," said the right-hander, who was 2-2 with a 4.81 ERA in six September starts.
"I believe I can get those guys out, you know. So until they prove me wrong, then I guess we’ll find out."
Tampa Bay counters with Andy Sonnanstine, who makes his first postseason appearance after posting a 13-9 record with a 4.38 ERA in 32 starts during the season.
Though Sonnanstine went 0-3 over his last seven starts of the regular season, he is 1-0 with a 2.96 ERA in four versus the White Sox. He allowed seven runs in 21 innings during three outings versus them this season.
"I’m going to try to pitch to my strengths and hopefully have a great day," the right-hander said.
B.J. Upton went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer Sunday, while Akinori Iwamura added two more hits and drove in a row for Tampa Bay. Iwamura is 5-for-13 with a homer and four RBIs in the series.
After going 4-for-7 with two homers in the first two games, Evan Longoria was 0-for-3 with a strikeout Sunday, but still feels he and the rest of the Rays are confident.
"I don’t think this clubhouse believes that we lost any momentum," Longoria said. "It’s one loss. We’re still in the driver’s seat as far as I’m concerned."
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