MLB Betting Free Picks: Chicago White Sox @ Cleveland
Added on Apr 18, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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Sportsbooks will have plenty of baseball betting opportunities for Saturday, and we’ll take a look at an American League matchup between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. The White Sox have stumbled out of the gate, and are currently in last place in the AL Central–just one half game back of the 4th place Indians.
Chicago White Sox (Jake Peavy) at Cleveland Indians (Jake Westbrook)
April 17, 1:10 PM Pacific
On balance, successful baseball handicappers look for opportunities to play good teams on the road. Of any major sport, baseball affords the least advantage to the home team. Teams with a dominant home field record are few and far between, and most of the top teams have away records that are comparable to those on their own field. Cleveland lost more money for bettors than any team in major league baseball last season (-31 units) and they’re already -1.7 units this year with a 4-6 record. The White Sox’s slow start gives us a nice value here on the better team with the better pitcher. Jake Peavy didn’t look particularly sharp in his last start, but he was facing an underrated Toronto team that hits the ball very well. We look for a much better outing here. We like Jake Westbrook, but he didn’t look very good either in his first start.
Additonally, the White Sox have a vastly superior bullpen–the ChiSox relievers have a tidy 1.89 ERA compared to Cleveland’s 4.85 ERA. More impressively, the White Sox bullpen has yet to allow an earned run on the road this season. Worst case scenario, we’re getting the better team with the better bullpen at a decent price. Best case scenario, we’re getting one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball *and* a better team with the better bullpen at a decent prize. Either way, the White Sox are the play in the battle between ‘the two Jakes’.
Bet Chicago White Sox (Peavy) -120 over Cleveland (Westbrook)
