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Mark Buehrle, White Sox Host Cleveland Indians
The three-way race in the AL Central is sure to be hot and heavy from now all the way through the end of the season. On Wednesday night, MLB betting fanatics will love to sink their teeth into the clash between two of these three rivals, as the Cleveland Indians face off with the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field.
Entering this 3-game series in the Windy City, Cleveland is trailing the Detroit Tigers by two games in the AL Central standings. Chicago is 3.5-games out of first place. With no hope at the AL Wild Card slot this year, it's clear that this division is only getting one postseason team, so the importance of this series is paramount.
The first pitch on Wednesday night is slated for 5:10 (PT), and there will be TV coverage on SportsTime and WCIU-TV.
Once upon a time, both of Wednesday's starters were 19-game winners. However, Cleveland's Fausto Carmona (5-12, 5.12 ERA) and Chicago's Mark Buehrle (10-5, 3.06 ERA) have fallen off and are no longer among the elite pitchers in the game.
Buehrle is the best hope to pitch the White Sox to the postseason, though. He has led his team to eight wins in his last nine starts, and he is 4-0 in that stretch, having not lost a game since June 16.
As always, Buehrle has pitched phenomenally at home this year, going 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA in his 11 starts. He has only allowed two earned runs in his last three outings here at US Cellular Field, a true testament knowing that he has gone up against the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins in that stretch.
The southpaw has never been known as a strikeout pitcher; after all, he only has 83 K's in his 156 innings of work on the campaign.
However, he does a great job pitching to contact and trusts his defense. Batters are hitting .261 against Buehrle, yet his WHIP is a miniscule 1.20 thanks to the fact that he has walked just 32 batters.
Carmona is a totally different story and has lostat least a dozen games in three straight seasons. Velocity and pitch location are definitely troubling the right-hander right now, two things that you never want to hear out of any pitcher, let alone a starter trying to regain his form. Carmona only has 76 strikeouts on the season and has walked 42 batters.
It also doesn't help matters that Carmona is allowing batters to hit .267 against him, nor are his 18 homers allowed in just 23 starts.
The good news for Carmona is that he is 7-5 in 15 career appearances against the White Sox. The bad news is that he was lit up for eight runs in five frames in his last meeting against them, and the worse news is that he allowed 10 runs on 11 hits in three innings in his first start of the year against them. Carmona's career ERA vs. Chicago is a fat 6.08.
The Tribe has won just two of their last 14 games against Chicago, including going just 1-6 this year. The White Sox have averaged a whopping 5.71 runs per game against Cleveland this season as well.
Chicago's weather forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of rain on Wednesday with a game-time temp expected to be in the upper 70s.
The three-way race in the AL Central is sure to be hot and heavy from now all the way through the end of the season. On Wednesday night, MLB betting fanatics will love to sink their teeth into the clash between two of these three rivals, as the Cleveland Indians face off with the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field.
Entering this 3-game series in the Windy City, Cleveland is trailing the Detroit Tigers by two games in the AL Central standings. Chicago is 3.5-games out of first place. With no hope at the AL Wild Card slot this year, it's clear that this division is only getting one postseason team, so the importance of this series is paramount.
The first pitch on Wednesday night is slated for 5:10 (PT), and there will be TV coverage on SportsTime and WCIU-TV.
Once upon a time, both of Wednesday's starters were 19-game winners. However, Cleveland's Fausto Carmona (5-12, 5.12 ERA) and Chicago's Mark Buehrle (10-5, 3.06 ERA) have fallen off and are no longer among the elite pitchers in the game.
Buehrle is the best hope to pitch the White Sox to the postseason, though. He has led his team to eight wins in his last nine starts, and he is 4-0 in that stretch, having not lost a game since June 16.
As always, Buehrle has pitched phenomenally at home this year, going 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA in his 11 starts. He has only allowed two earned runs in his last three outings here at US Cellular Field, a true testament knowing that he has gone up against the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins in that stretch.
The southpaw has never been known as a strikeout pitcher; after all, he only has 83 K's in his 156 innings of work on the campaign.
However, he does a great job pitching to contact and trusts his defense. Batters are hitting .261 against Buehrle, yet his WHIP is a miniscule 1.20 thanks to the fact that he has walked just 32 batters.
Carmona is a totally different story and has lostat least a dozen games in three straight seasons. Velocity and pitch location are definitely troubling the right-hander right now, two things that you never want to hear out of any pitcher, let alone a starter trying to regain his form. Carmona only has 76 strikeouts on the season and has walked 42 batters.
It also doesn't help matters that Carmona is allowing batters to hit .267 against him, nor are his 18 homers allowed in just 23 starts.
The good news for Carmona is that he is 7-5 in 15 career appearances against the White Sox. The bad news is that he was lit up for eight runs in five frames in his last meeting against them, and the worse news is that he allowed 10 runs on 11 hits in three innings in his first start of the year against them. Carmona's career ERA vs. Chicago is a fat 6.08.
The Tribe has won just two of their last 14 games against Chicago, including going just 1-6 this year. The White Sox have averaged a whopping 5.71 runs per game against Cleveland this season as well.
Chicago's weather forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of rain on Wednesday with a game-time temp expected to be in the upper 70s.
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