The Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox were one of only 12 teams that went into the All-Star break having made money for baseball bettors at online sportsbooks. Dusty Baker’s squad pulled off an unbelievable comeback in their first half finale against the New York Yankees to avoid being swept, while the Pale Hose closed the first half on a five-game winning streak after busting the brooms out on the Orioles in Baltimore. Of the AL division leaders, it’s Tony LaRussa’s that will likely waltz its way into the playoffs with the remainder of the AL Central not offering much in the way of competition. The same can’t be said for the Astros who likely have a battle with the Oakland A’s on their hands the rest of the way. It’ll most likely be a matchup of right-handers in the second game of this series with Houston set to send veteran Jake Odorizzi to the bump to square off against the up-and-coming Dylan Cease.
First pitch for this heavyweight AL matchup between the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox is scheduled for Saturday, July 17, 2021, at 7:15 p.m. ET from Guaranteed Rate Field. The matchup will air live on FOX. Bet on MLB odds and player props at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
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Odds Analysis
Only the Rays, Red Sox, Mariners and Giants padded bankrolls more than the Astros the first half of the season. Houston became the fifth best bet in the game by way of winning 55 of their first 91 games for a $594 return on investment. A bulk of the winnings occurred on the road where it tallied a 26-17 overall record $476. Since the beginning of June, the Astros have either won or split each of their last six played series on the road. Sitting 19 games over the breakeven point at the midway point of the regular season, you’d think the White Sox would’ve stockpiled more winnings for their supporters. But when your division only has one other team with a +.500 record, it’s tough to make bank when you’re routinely installed huge favorites. That’s been the case with Chicago who’s only up $362 overall even though its logged wins in 10 of its last 13 games. No team has more home wins than the White Sox who stand 31 games up and only 14 down. Houston has also been a boon to over bettor’s bottom lines with the team playing to high scorers at a 52-37 clip. By way of owning the much better overall bullpen, Chicago has seen the under cash in nearly half of their played games 44-43.
Probable Pitchers
Jake Odorizzi: Since returning to the starting rotation at the end of May, Odorizzi has been solid but far from spectacular. He’ll attempt to bounce back from taking a loss for the first time since June 3 after his six innings of 2 ER ball and 4 K to no walks wasn’t enough to get the best of the Yankees. The outing marked the second straight that he managed to pitch through the sixth inning, but each represents his only two quality efforts through 10 overall starts. Over the last 30 days, he’s only surrendered an average of 5.2 hits and allowed 1.4 walks per nine innings. He’s also only conceded an average of 1.0 home runs per nine innings. That said, a bulk of those starts came against the weak hitting Indians, Tigers, Orioles and Rangers. His two outings against an offense with a pulse – the Boston Red Sox – saw him concede seven hits 2 HR and 6 ER through eight combined innings. Chicago represents his toughest test in over a month!
To Be Determined: With Lucas Giolito expected to get the starting nod in the series opener, it only makes perfect sense for Cease to line up right behind him since that’s the order Chicago closed out the first half of its season with. The youngster has been a strikeout monster now in his first full season throwing at big leaguers evidenced by his 11.4 K/9 innings. However, the fireballer has been extremely charitable in issuing an average of 3.8 walks per nine innings. He’s also serving up 1.1 home runs per nine innings and nearly two per game over the last 30 days. Houston owns the league’s top ranked batting average and OPS, so this will be a stern test for the youngster whose been peppered to the tune of a 7.71 ERA and 1.71 WHIP through 9.1 career innings thrown at the Astros. One of those starts occurred back on June 17 in Minute Maid where the righty only lasted 3.1 innings after allowing four hits 1 HR and seven runs.
Astros vs. White Sox Prediction
Should this ultimately turn out to be the pitching matchup, I’m expecting the scoreboard operators to be busy on the South Side. While Cease has been better at home 3.81 ERA as opposed to the road 5.35 ERA, his eight home starts have come against the Royals X2, Rangers, Tigers X2, Twins X2 and Orioles. Not a single one of those teams rank out amongst the top-10 offenses in the league. As already stated, Houston clocks in at No. 1! As for Odorizzi, he’ll have his hands full with a White Sox offense that averages 4.8 runs per game against right-handed pitchers and has played to the over at a 31-29-3 clip in those games. I fully expect Odorizzi to revert back to being a sub six-inning pitcher in this one and for Cease to have his hands full dealing with Jose Altuve and company. With that, look for some runs to hit the board - Slam the F5/FG over and enjoy the show!
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