American League challengers are slated to face off Friday night when the Chicago White Sox make their way to Beantown to play the Boston Red Sox. This will be these teams’ first encounter this season.
The Red Sox (10-16) have dropped four of five and are hoping to avoid a third consecutive loss. They’re tied for the bottom spot in the AL East, a grouping that includes a trio of viable World Series contenders.
Chicago (11-13) is looking to add to their momentum after sweeping a two-game bill against their Windy City neighbors, the Cubs. The White Sox have lost only once in their last five outings and remain close to the front-runners in their division.
Shortstop Tim Anderson is the only Chicago batter with a season average that surpasses the .300 plateau. Recently, though, center fielder Luis Robert and first baseman Jose Abreu have caught fire. All three had at least seven knocks in the past week.
Anderson leads the team with four dingers and 14 runs scored. On the road, however, he’s hitting .250 so far.
White Sox at Red Sox Odds
The Red Sox are favored to rebound from back-to-back defeats, MLB odds indicate. Boston is -1.5 on the run line at +112, while the White Sox are -134 to cover the spread.
On the moneyline, the Red Sox are -180, and Chicago is a +152 underdog. The total has been set at eight runs, with the over being -118 and the under -104 at the time of this writing.
Neither team is particularly tearing it up in the batter’s box at the moment, making it a little tougher on some MLB expert picks.
Boston’s offense has been slightly more reliable. They sport a .229 team average, which is eight ticks greater than their guest.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts has a .353 plate average, a .404 on-base percentage, and 34 hits, all of which are tops for the Red Sox. Third baseman Rafael Devers has lifted four home runs, and designated hitter J.D. Martinez has 13 RBIs.
When betting on baseball here, keep in mind that the White Sox are one of only four groups not to have driven in at least 80 runs by this point.
Matchup Information
White Sox at Red Sox Betting Preview
On the bump for the Red Sox, 13th-year right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has posted a 1-0 record thus far. Despite allowing only eight knocks in a combined 14 frames in his two most recent starts — both on the road — Boston has stumbled.
He boasts a respectable 2.51 ERA and has fanned 32 hitters. He hasn’t conceded more than three runs in any of his five outings.
He’s spent 28.2 innings on the hill so far in this campaign and is likely the main reason why his team seemingly has the upper hand in this matchup.
Chicago’s Vince Velasquez might have something to say about that with these MLB betting picks. Against a team that his opponents recently struggled with, he demonstrated his ability.
He would like to repeat the result from that previous showing. Against the Los Angeles Angels last week, he let none across in coming out on the right side of a 4-0 triumph.
He’s K’d 19 in 17.2 frames of work and has a career ERA of 4.94 in 160 career appearances.
White Sox at Red Sox Picks and Predictions
This one, admittedly, could go either way, and that makes it one of the more compelling MLB picks today.
Velasquez proved against a solid Angels order that he can take control. That being said, he’ll make it even harder than it’s been for his counterpart to get the run support he’ll need to claim this tilt.
At the Red Sox’ expense, Chicago will keep it rolling with another win, setting the tone for the two following contests in this series. After getting blanked by Shohei Ohtani Thursday, Boston still won’t find a way to break through.
Take the White Sox as underdogs (+152) and the under (-104).
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