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After getting thrashed on Saturday in another Dallas Keuchel start, the Chicago White Sox were able to take care of business against the Kansas City Royals last night. The rubber match today will take place at 1:10 PM CT at Kauffman Stadium.
The Listed Pitchers
Dylan Cease (11-6, 3.82 ERA) will take the mound for the White Sox. His last time out, he put together six sparkling innings, giving up only one earned run against four hits to the Chicago Cubs. One batter he should worry about today is Andrew Benintendi, who has gone .500 against him with four hits and a .600 OBP.
Kansas City will counter with Brady Singer (3-9, 4.87 ERA). The former 2018 first round pick allowed one earned run and three hits in six innings pitched against the Seattle Mariners one week ago. The ever-dangerous Eloy Jiménez only has four at-bats against Singer, but has gone .500 against him so far.
The Game Breakdown
The White Sox have had some bumps along the road but are still absolutely cruising into the postseason. They score the fifth-most runs in baseball (five per game) and have won 64.4% of the games this season where they have been the moneyline favorite (67-37).
Meanwhile, the Royals have scored the 24th-most runs in MLB, at a rate of 4.2 per game. However, they have gone 4-3 in their last 10 games as underdogs. Kansas City is not a very good team, but they are tricky and have been able to play spoiler often enough that it can cause problems for moneyline bettors.
The key to this rubber match will most likely be the White Sox’s excellent bats. Yoán Moncada ranks 11th in OBP among qualifying hitters and has hit safely in 17 straight games. José Abreu had a red-hot August at the plate and has hit a team-best 28 home runs and 103 runs batted in. Do not be surprised if he smashes number 29 today off of a mediocre pitcher.
Wrap-up
Based on the particular matchup today, we should expect another exciting, high-scoring affair. The Chicago White Sox moneyline (-172) is not too tasty, and the total runs over (8.5) is worrisome in case the Royals’ bats totally flounder and the Sox take their foot off the gas pedal with a big lead. Therefore, a run line bet on the White Sox is as good a bet as you’ll find. If you have any extra cash, consider spreading a unit or two on the Abreu home run prop (+440)
The Pick: CHICAGO WHITE SOX 1.5 (-110)