ESPN Sunday Night Baseball

[BigMike]

BOSTON RED SOX

****** Damon CF .305
Orlando Cabrera SS .241
Manny Ramirez LF .320
David Ortiz DH .301
Jason Varitek C .301
Kevin Millar RF .304
Bill Mueller 3B .285
Doug Mientkiewicz 1B .245
Mark Bellhorn 2B .257

Derek Lowe RHP (11-10, 5.26)


CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Willie Harris 2B .268
Aaron Rowand CF .314
Carlos Lee LF .298
Paul Konerko 1B .278
Carl Everett DH .250
Jose Valentin SS .226
Ben Davis C .252
Joe Borchard RF .167
Joe Crede 3B .235

Freddy Garcia RHP (10-10, 3.74)

[BigMike]

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox will go for a three-game
sweep when they face the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular
Field on Sunday night.

The Red Sox have won 11 of their last 14, including five in a
row, and are a season-high 17 games above .500. Boston has not
swept the White Sox in Chicago since September 26-28, 2000.

Manny Ramirez has been destroying White Sox' pitching in the
series. He belted a grand slam in the first inning of Friday's
10-1 win and a first-inning three-run homer in Saturday's 10-7
triumph.

Ramirez has driven in nine of Boston's 20 runs in the series and
leads the American League with 32 home runs.

The White Sox have lost four of their last five games,
surrendering 41 runs.

Pitching matchup:

Boston - Derek Lowe (11-10, 5.26 ERA); has not faced Chicago in
2004.

Chicago - Freddy Garcia (10-10, 3.74 ERA); 1-0, 6.35 vs. Boston
in 2004.

Who's Hot:

Boston - LF Ramirez, 5-for-7 with two homers and nine RBI in the
series.

Chicago - CF Aaron Rowand, 13-for-30 with four homers and nine
RBI in last eight games.

Who's Not:

Boston - DH David Ortiz, 0-for-15 in his last four games.

Chicago - OF Carl Everett, 2-for-18 in his last five games.


2004 series: Boston 3-2
All-time series: Boston 928-898.

[BigMike]

Everybody asleep?? Let's get some opinions going!

[garth]

I think Garcia will bounce back from his last poor outing. He usually does. I'll probably place a small wager on the CWS. Good luck.

[GoldVike]

Mike

FWIW........I have one last play left to close out a 3 team parlay with REDS and BRAVES/DOD over and it is with CWS.......I took a quick run through the services section and found VIRTUALLY ALL SERVICES ON THE WHITE SOX!

This pretty much locks my play in at a loss. Assuming the Reds pigpen can hold a 10 run 9th inning lead!

I will hedge this one now and take the Red Sox straight up on a side bet to guarantee plus money for the play.

A side note is that Garcia has been hit very hard lately......PLUS he has one of MLB's WORST NIGHT RECORDS for starters in the last couple of years. Add that to the hot Red Sox bats.......and maybe the OVER will be another possibility to garner some $$ as CWS WILL score a few at home.

ALSO.......CHECK OUT THE 5 THROUGH 9 spots you posted for the starters tonight!

MONSTER ADVANTAGE TO THE RED SOX!!

JMHO!! Goldv

[BigMike]

This is a tough one to cap!! With the Yanks losing I think Boston goes balls to the wall to get a W and pick up a game!

[BigMike]

Sounds good GV. You pushed me over the edge, I'll take a shot with Boston and maybe a little on the over.

P.S. Thanks for the Fla pick!!!