Double Bill
The weather in Chicago this weekend has been so poor, the best remaining chance for the White Sox and Tigers to salvage their series is to play through the remnants of a hurricane.
The Chicago White Sox and Detroits Tigers hope the rain stops long enough for them to play a split doubleheader Sunday.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Chicago -130 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 73% of bets for this game have been placed on Chicago-130 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Heavy rains have washed these teams out at U.S. Cellular Field for each of the last two days, forcing Chicago (81-65) and Detroit (70-76) to schedule this twinbill to salvage part of their three-game set. That may be easier said than done, with the remnants of Hurricane Ike expected to arrive in the Chicago area Sunday.
"You got to keep moving on. Come back here and be ready to play a doubleheader again," Chicago’s Nick Swisher said after Saturday’s attempt at a doubleheader got rained out.
"We’ll just go home and kind of have like an almost a full off day. And relax. … I’m going to go in front of the couch and watch football all day. That’s where I’ll be if you need me."
This is the Tigers’ last scheduled visit of the season to Chicago.
"We’re here. When they say play, we’re going to play," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
While this marks Detroit’s first doubleheader of the year, it’s the third for Chicago and its second in less than a week after dropping both games at home to Toronto on Tuesday. The White Sox split a twinbill with Baltimore on April 26.
"Maybe we have some rest right now, but at the end of the season it might be tough because we got to play doubleheaders and all this stuff. You don’t know how many doubleheaders we’re going to play," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "You don’t know what’s going to happen."
Detroit’s Justin Verlander (10-15, 4.78 ERA) – Friday’s scheduled starter – will face Javier Vazquez (11-13, 4.29) in the afternoon. Tigers veteran Kenny Rogers (9-13, 5.49) will face John Danks, who was also supposed to start Friday, in the nightcap.
Verlander didn’t factor in the Tigers’ 6-4 win at Minnesota last Saturday. He gave up four earned runs and eight hits while walking four over 5 2-3 innings.
The right-hander is 2-8 with a 6.01 ERA in 13 career starts versus the White Sox, losing four of five this year. Jermaine Dye is 13-for-36 (.361) with four homers and seven RBIs, while Jim Thome has hit .281 (9-for-32) with six homers and 10 RBIs lifetime against him.
Verlander is 0-5 with a 6.14 ERA in seven career road outings against the White Sox.
Vazquez is 1-3 with a 4.01 ERA in his last four outings for Chicago, and 1-5 with a 3.48 ERA over his last six home starts. On Tuesday, he gave up two runs over six innings in a 3-1 loss to Toronto.
The right-hander is 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA in four starts against Detroit this year.
Rogers returns after missing his start on Tuesday due to a sore hip, according to the team’s official Web site.
The 43-year-old left-hander is 1-7 with an 8.50 ERA over his last eight starts, and has dropped his last three outings. He allowed six runs in two-plus innings – his shortest effort of the year – of a 7-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 4.
Rogers is 0-2 with a 6.33 ERA over his last five starts against the White Sox, including 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA in two outings this year.
Danks, meanwhile, is 0-3 with a 5.95 ERA over his last four outings.
The left-hander didn’t earn a decision last Sunday despite limiting the playoff-bound Angels to two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts over 5 1-3 innings of a 3-2 home loss.
The White Sox have won four of Danks’ five career starts versus the Tigers. He’s 2-1 with a 4.80 ERA in those games.
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