Sox Gaining Ground
The Chicago White Sox haven’t been at their best on the road this season, but they’re off to a good start on an important trip.
Chicago looks for its fourth straight win overall Saturday as it continues a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made Detroit -145 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 93% of bets for this game have been placed on Detroit -145 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
The
White Sox (58-43) began this nine-game road trip, which includes series
against the division rival Tigers (52-50), Twins and Royals, with a 2
1/2-game lead over Minnesota and a 5 1/2-game advantage over
third-place Detroit. Chicago was 22-27 on the road entering this
weekend, but opened the trip with a come-from-behind 6-5 win over
Detroit on Friday.
Jermaine Dye hit a two-out, two-run homer in
the ninth inning to cap a rally from a 4-1 deficit. Orlando Cabrera
also drove in two runs for Chicago, which is averaging more than seven
runs over its last nine games and increased its lead over the Twins,
who lost to Cleveland.
Manager Ozzie Guillen was frustrated,
however, by his team’s two errors and the early struggles of starter
Gavin Floyd, who gave up four runs in the first three innings.
"The only good thing we can say about this game was we won," Guillen said.
Magglio Ordonez had three hits and drove in a run for Detroit, which saw its four-game winning streak snapped.
Dye’s
has had some success against Justin Verlander (8-9, 3.95 ERA), who
starts Saturday for the Tigers, going 10-for-30 with three homers
against the right-hander.
Nobody has had much luck against
Verlander recently, however. He has won his last four starts, and is
6-0 with a 2.30 ERA and a .183 opponent batting average in his last
eight outings.
His run of dominance began June 11 against the
White Sox, who he limited to four hits in a complete-game, 5-1 win. Dye
went 0-for-3.
"He had electric stuff tonight,” Chicago
outfielder Brian Anderson said of Verlander after that contest. "We
helped him out by swinging at a lot of first pitches and keeping his
pitch count down. He just pounded the zone with strikes. When a pitcher
does that to you, it’s going to be a short night.”
White Sox
starter John Danks (7-4, 3.03) looks to bounce back from one of his
worst outings of the season. The right-hander lasted only four innings
against Kansas City on Sunday, allowing six runs and nine hits in a
game Chicago eventually lost 8-7.
He did not get saddled with the decision, though, and has not lost in 10 starts since May 24.
On
Friday, the White Sox placed third baseman Joe Crede on the 15-day
disabled list, retroactive to July 22 because of back inflammation.
Crede, who played in 47 games last year before having season-ending
back surgery, was hitting .255 with 17 homers and 54 RBIs in 90 games.
Josh
Fields, who led AL rookies last season with 23 homers, was called up to
replace Crede and went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
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