Paul Konerko and the White Sox host the Cubs in the rubber game of the City Series. The Sox will be trying for a 2nd straight win against their crosstown opponents while Konerko will be looking to extend his impressive home run streak.
The White Sox will
send Jake Peavy to the rubber while the Cubs counter with lefthander Doug Davis.
It’s not surprising that Peavy is the MLB odds favorite (-175) but it seems to be an awfully
high price to pay for a pitcher who has as many trips to the disabled list (2)
as he does wins this season.
The Line can be found even higher at MLB betting outlets such as Bookmaker, who at the time of writing had the Sox listed at -185, which is falling from the -190 they opened with.
Ozzie’s Even
Ozzie Guillen’s
troops squared the three-game Chicago series with a 3-2 (as I predicted) win as Konerko homered for the
fifth straight game giving him 21 on the season. The White Sox first baseman
has smacked 11 home runs, driven in 22 runs and is hitting .446 in his last 20
games and is hitting .331, second in the American League behind Boston’s Adrian
Gonzalez (.350).
While Konerko
enjoys one of the best stretches of his career, Adam Dunn, continues to suffer
through one of his worst. Dunn who signed the hefty free agent contract during
the off-season went 0 for 4 to drop his average to .175. He’s 0 for his last 12
and has struck out seven times during that stretch giving him 91 K’s in 217 at
bats.
Injury bug
Peavy (2-1, 4.65) has
been on and off of Chicago's injury list on a regular basis before and since the White Sox acquired him from the Padres at the
2009 trade deadline. He’s been rock solid in his last three interleague
appearances throwing 21 consecutive scoreless innings but those appearances
came when he was healthy and pitching in San Diego.
The Alabama right-hander is
among the best in the game when healthy but he hasn’t been able to stay on the
field much during his 1 ½ years in Chicago due to a variety of ailments. He
started 2011 on the DL with a shoulder injury and was hurt again on June 5 when
he suffered a groin sprain.
The well-traveled Davis
(1-5, 4.95) is with his fifth big league club and in his first year with the
Cubs. In 2008 he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer making two starts
before undergoing surgery to remove the gland. He came back to pitch just over
a month later getting a victory in his return. If he doesn’t win another game
he gets a pass from some of us for simply beating the disease and resuming his
career. He’s 1-3 with a 4.73 ERA in five career starts against the Cubs.
The White Sox
continue to prosper in interleague play. They’re 44-18 in their last 62 games
against the National League and have won 16 straight series against the senior
circuit.
The Great Race
The White Sox
(36-39) are just 4.5 games back of the Indians in the American League Central a
division where a .500 record might be good enough to win the division.
The fifth-place
Cubs (30-43) are 10 games behind the Brewers in the National League Central and are just
14-21 on the road. The Cubs are 5-12 in
their past 17 meetings with the Sox.
Weather or not
Last night’s game
was delayed by rain for 1 hour and 44 minutes and more inclement weather is in
tonight’s forecast. Mostly cloudy skies with a 40 percent chance of showers are
expected with temperatures near 60 and winds of 15 miles per hour.
Harvey’s Take: No way I’ll take Peavy at +175 and despite my
respect for Davis I’ll pass on him too. The ‘over’ looks like the play albeit a
small one.