Cleveland at Chicago White Sox
Wednesday, May 18th, 8:10 PM
(matchup)
So much has changed since the Cleveland Indians started the year with back to back losses to the Chicago White Sox. The Tribe has won 26 of 37 games since to race out to MLB’s best record and they also own, by far, baseball’s best run differential at +63. Consider they once trailed the White Sox 14-0 in the season opener, meaning they’ve outscored opponents by 77 runs since the fourth inning of the season. No other team in baseball has a run differential better than +44.
The White Sox have not been as fortunate this season, coming in at 18-25 with an anemic offense averaging just 3.8 runs per game. Despite this, they come into tonight’s contest as a -120 favorite on the betting line.
Cleveland has won three in a row, including back to back blowout victories over the Kansas City Royals. Following Monday’s historic 19-1 victory, they won 7-3 last night, taking a 3-0 first inning lead and never looking back. Both Carlos Santana and Asdrubal Cabrera homered in the victory. They are now 11-9 on the road this season.
Chicago seems to be coming out of its tailspin with seven wins in its last 11 games. Previously, they had dropped 22 of 31 after starting 2-0. They are coming off a 4-3 win over Texas last night, just their second victory at US Cellular Field in 12 tries. Ozzie Guillen’s club is a money burning 4-10 in the home favorite role this season, which is something to be aware of.
The Indians will start Justin Masterson, who was on the hill when the Indians did beat the White Sox 7-1 earlier in the year. Overall, Masterson has been pretty solid this season (2.73 ERA in 8 starts), particularly on the road where he is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA. The righty has allowed exactly one earned run in six of his seven career starts vs. the White Sox.
The White Sox will go with Jake Peavy, who has a 0-5 TSR his last five starts vs. Cleveland. This will be only Peavy’s second start since coming off the DL. He did win his first, but wasn’t particularly effective, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings of work in a 6-4 Angels win.
