Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox MLB Pick
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After owning baseball’s worst record by four games on June 1, the Twins have strung together one of the best records in baseball over the past five weeks and will look to get back in the race for the AL Central title when they visit Chicago’s south side to take on the struggling White Sox.
Date/Time: Saturday, July 9, 4:10 PM ET
Venue: US Cellular Field in Chicago, IL.
Broadcast: FOX
Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox Betting Lines
Spread: Chicago White Sox -1.5
Over/Under: 8.5
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Minnesota sat eight games back in the American League Central coming into the four-game series, which began on Thursday, and haven’t given up hope in catching the division leading Cleveland Indians, despite a dismal 18-28 record on the road while being outscored by 76 runs this season.
However, the team has turned things around and entered the series 6-4 in their last 10 games, while hitting .243 as a team. Michael Cuddyer leads the lineup at .294, Ben Revere at .269, and Alexi Casilla at .245.
In the meantime, the Twins pitching staff has an ERA of 4.23 with the starters at 3.95 and the bullpen at 4.91.
For Game 3 the Twins will go with Brian Duensing who pitched a career-high 119 pitches en route to his second career shutout in a 7-0 victory over Tampa Bay on Monday. It was the second complete game of the southpaw’s career and the first this season. He gave up six hits and four walks while striking out seven including retiring 15 of his last 16 batters, and at one time retiring 10 straight. Duensing is 4-0 in four starts against the Sox.
That pitching performance won’t help the White Sox who barely clawed their way to .500 before dropping two at home to the worst team in the AL Central, the Kansas City Royals. Still, they remained ahead the Twins by 4.5 games heading into the series.
Together, Chicago is hitting .253 led by Paul Konerko at .319, A.J. Pierzynski at .296, and Alexei Ramirez at .269, while the pitching staff has an ERA of 3.81 with the starters at 3.88 and the bullpen at 3.63.
For Saturday’s contest, manager Ozzie Guillen will hand the rock to Mark Buehrle who allowed seven hits and two runs with two walks and four strikeouts, leaving without a decision in the White Sox’s 3-2 win over the Rockies on Wednesday. The veteran lefty is 6-5 on the season with a 3.66 ERA and is 25-19 in 46 career starts against the Twins. His last outing against Minnesota on June 14 ended in a 1-0 loss when Michael Cuddyer homered to deep center. It was Buehrle’s only blemish to an otherwise solid performance.
Chicago is 1-6 in their last seven against the AL Central, while the Twins entered the series 13-3 in their last 16 games in the Windy City.
The odds makers have the Chicago White Sox as a -1.5 point favorite with an run total of 8.5.
Matt’s Free Prediction: White Sox – While the Sox seem to always struggle against the Twins, behind Buehrle they get it done here against a team that is clearly better as a home team.
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