The Seattle Mariners open the second half of the MLB betting season with a three-game series versus the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday.
Date: Friday, 14th July
Time: 8: 10 PM
Venue: Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago
Online betting odds for fans who bet on baseball: TBD
Seattle Mariners (43-47)
On the mound: James Paxton (LHP, 7-3, 3.21 ERA, 91 K) has picked up right where he left off following a one-month stint on the disabled list with a strained arm. Pax gave up only three runs on four hits and struck out 12 in 13 1/3 innings in wins against Anaheim and Oakland. “We saw a different James Paxton in the last two innings [of the July 7th game against the A’s],” manager Scott Servais said. “He just went and turned up the dial, and that’s what top of the rotation starting pitching does. We hadn’t seen that out of him the last few starts.” This will be Paxton’s first start of the season versus Chicago and third in his career. Paxton entered the midseason break with an average fastball velocity of 96.1 mph and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings. His seven wins are a career-best for him.
At bat: Designated hitter Nelson Cruz is tied for first place in the MLB with 70 RBIs this season and entered the All Star break as the fourth Mariner to at least a share of the American League lead, joining Brett Boone, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr.
Trends for fans who bet on baseball: The Mariners have lost and failed to cover in five of their last seven games and are 1-5 straight-up and 0-5 against the spread in their last six and five meetings with Chicago, respectively. The MLB betting total has gone over in two thirds of Seattle’s last six games with the White Sox.
Chicago White Sox (38-49)
On the mound: James Shields (RHP, 2-1, 4.95 ERA, 30 K) also spent some time on the DL but unlike Paxton he apparently lost his mojo while there. He had a 1.62 ERA in his first three starts in April; Shields has allowed 17 runs on 25 hits – including seven homers – in 19 2/3 innings since returning on June 18th.
At bat: First baseman Jose Abreu was hitting .433 with the tying or winning run on base, the fourth-best mark in the MLB. Collectively, the South Siders were the fourth-best team in baseball in those circumstances, hitting .287.
Miscellanea: The ChiSox rotation was last in the AL and the third-worst in the Majors in quality starts entering Sunday.
Trends for fans who bet on baseball: The White Sox have struggled after a going 13-10 in April, going 11-18 and 11-16 in the next two months and sinking as far down as 11 games under .500 on July 7th. Yoan Moncada is waiting in the wings and several trade options are looming in the horizon, so the Sox could look very differently by the end of July. The MLB betting total has gone over in four of the Chicago’s last six times hosting the M’s.