Carlos Rodon pitched a no-hitter earlier this month and takes his 3-0 record to the bump at home against Casey Mize (1-2) and the Tigers who have lost 10 of 11. No need to overthink this one, the Sox are hitting a stride, and have won 6 of 7 and are at home. Tony Larussa’s Sox are coming off a sweep against the Rangers and their sluggers like Mercedes, .414 BA, are producing at the plate. I pick the White Sox to win.
Are the Chicago White Sox good? For 15 years now there has been a steady buzz from the south side of Chicago, year after disappointing year, that the Sox are once again (as in 2005 when they won it all) World Series contenders. But yet nothing to show for it. Sure the Sox sniffed the playoffs in ‘07 and last season winning a game each time before being bounced, but this year feels different. Tony Larussa is back where he began his managerial career (and back from retirement) and the Sox seem to have all the right pieces in place, a few notables; Yermin Mercedes has been on fire at the dish hitting .414 with 15 RBI and a whopping 1.118 OPS and 29 base hits, bringing back memories of the Big Hurt Frank Thomas at DH for the Sox. Abreu 1B, Eaton at 2B and SS Anderson are all adding nice production as well. The Sox have won 6 of their last 7 as of Tuesday and are one game out of first place in the AL Central. Early signs are pointing to this being a good year on the south side of Chicago. If you’re placing a bet on this one NJ online sportsbooks you only need to know one thing about this game – Carlos Rodon is starting for Chicago. Rodon threw an amazing no hitter this month at home vs Cleveland (amazing because it was nearly a perfect game). He is 3-0 on the season with a 0.47 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP and don’t bet against him or the Sox in this one. This might, in fact, be the season in which the Sox can win the division and make another world series win. Time will tell. As for Detroit, manager A.J. Hinch and his Tigers look up from the bottom of the AL Central with a 7-16 record and are really struggling. The Tigers have lost 10 of their last 11 and will need a Herculean effort from right Casey Mize who is 1-2 with a 5.23 ERA this season. On offense the Tigers don’t have much going for them as they are last in the majors in OBP and 28th in BA (at a lowly .209) and runs scored on the season. CF Akil Baddoo (who makes my all-name team) and Catcher Wilson Ramos are the only Tigers slugging above .500 at .667 and .507. There just isn’t much going well for the struggling Tigers currently. Don’t count on the Tigers chances in this one and don’t count on needing to know much about this game other than the starters. Rodon for Chicago and Mize for Detroit are enough to know to put your money on Chicago and relax. The Sox win at home.
