Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Rays Betting Odds & Predictions
Date:
August 20, 7:10 pm
Location:
Tropicana Field
Betting Odds
Moneyline:
CWS -120/TB +110
Total:
9
<p>American League division leaders clash when the Rays and White Sox begin a three-game weekend series down in Florida Friday night. Tampa Bay, the defending AL champion, owns the best record in the League while the ChiSox lead their division by double-digits. Michael Wacha and his 5.91 ERA take the pill for the home team here against Lucas Giolito for the visitors. How are we playing this game with our <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/free-mlb-picks" title="MLB Game Predictions">free baseball betting pick</a>?
</p>
<h2>MLB Betting Odds </h2>
<p><a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/odds" title="Compare MLB Lines From Multiple Sportsbooks">Friday's baseball betting lines</a> opened Chicago at around -110 over Tampa, with an over/under of nine runs. Early betting action then eased bumped the White Sox to -120.</p>
<p>Chicago could also be found getting around +130, giving the run and a half on the run line.</p>
<h2>White Sox-Rays MLB Betting Preview </h2>
<p>Chicago just took three of four games at home from Oakland, missing out on the sweep by losing Thursday's series finale 5-4. But just before that, the White Sox lost two of three games to the Yankees, and just before that, they lost two of three to Minnesota. So Chicago is 1-2 over its last three series and 4-5 over its previous nine games.</p>
<p>But at 71-51 overall, the White Sox lead the AL Central by 11.5 games over second-place Cleveland, with 40 games to go.</p>
<p>Tampa Bay, meanwhile, just swept four games from Baltimore by a combined score of 34-8, taking Thursday's series finale 7-2. Just before that, the Rays lost two of three games to the Twins, while just before that, they took two of three from Boston. Going back a bit further, Tampa Bay is 3-1 over its last four series and 10-3 over its previous 13 games.</p>
<p>At 75-47 overall, the Rays lead the AL East by five games over the second-place Yankees. Tampa also leads Houston by 3.5 games in the battle for the best record in the American League.</p>
<p>This series is the second meeting between these two teams this season; back in June, the White Sox took two of three games from Tampa in Chicago.</p>
<h2>Friday's Pitching Match-Up </h2>
<p><a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/48251" title="Michael Wacha Pitching Logs">Wacha</a> is just 2/16 on quality starts this season and 0 for his last five. Last Saturday, he got popped for seven runs and 11 hits, including two home runs, through five innings of a 12-0 Chicago loss to Minnesota. And just before that, he gave up six runs in four innings of an 8-2 loss to Seattle. So over his last five starts, Wacha has allowed 20 earned runs and six homers through 23 innings.</p>
<p>The Rays are 10-6 with Wacha this season but 0-3 over his last three starts.</p>
<p>This will be Wacha's first start against the White Sox since 2018 when he was with St. Louis, and that's already a long time ago.</p>
<p><a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/pitcherlog/79695" title="Lucas Giolito White Sox">Giolito</a>, by our strict standards, is 9/24 on quality starts this year and four for his last six. Last Sunday, he struggled a bit against the Yankees, allowing three runs – two earned – on six hits and three walks through just four innings of a 5-3 Chicago loss. But just before that, he held the Twins to one run and two hits through eight innings of an 11-1 White Sox victory.</p>
<p>On the season, the ChiSox are only 11-13 with Giolito and 1-4 over his last five starts, although that's not his fault; twice he held opponents to one run through six innings, only to have Chicago lose the game.</p>
<p>In his only start this season against Tampa, Giolito allowed three runs and four hits through six innings of an 8-7 White Sox win.</p>
<h2>Splits With the Sticks </h2>
<p>Chicago is batting .250 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .334 team OBP and a .414 team slugging percentage.</p>
<p>Tampa Bay is slashing .241/.324/.436 against right-handed pitching.</p>
<p><section></p>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-size:16px;"><b><span style="color:#008000;">Get more details:</span></b> <a class="advblue" href="https://www.sportsbettingstats.com/mlb/matchup/1362521">White Sox vs. Rays 8/20/21 Game Matchup Stats</a></span>
</li>
</ul>
<p></section></p>
<h2>The Bullpens </h2>
<p>The White Sox bullpen owns a 3.94 ERA this season, along with a 1.26 WHIP and a 3.03 K/BB ratio, which ranks No. 3 in Baseball.</p>
<p>The Rays pen owns a 3.10 ERA, which ranks No. 2 in the Majors, a 1.13 WHIP, which also ranks No. 2, and a 3.34 K/BB ratio, which ranks No. 1.</p>
<h2>MLB Betting Trends</h2>
<ul>
<li>The White Sox are 29-28 on the road this season.</li>
<li>The Rays are 39-22 at home.</li>
<li>The White Sox are 50-38 against right-handed starters this season.</li>
<li>The Rays are 48-26 against right-handed starters.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Totals Report</h2>
<p>Unders are 60-55 in White Sox games this season.</p>
<p>Overs are 68-50 in Rays games.</p>
<p>Overs are a combined 24-13 with Wacha and Giolito this season.</p>
<p>Totals are split 29-29 in games played at Tropicana Field this season.</p>
Chicago gets our check-mark in the pitching match-up, but Tampa receives the check in the bullpen comparison. So our main baseball handicapping factors come out about even. But it looks like the White Sox are playing on cruise control, with their big divisional lead, while the Rays must be concerned about the surging Yankees, who have moved into second place in the AL East. Plus, we just love the way Tampa Bay approaches the game, and it's getting a home dog price. So we like the Rays here for our free baseball betting pick for Friday.
Free Pick:
Take Tampa Bay
