Monday MLB Best Bet: Yankees vs. White Sox

Written by Jake Thompson
Sunday, 31 July 2011 23:07

Monday’s MLB best bet will be an American League clash between the Yankees and the White Sox.

The New York Yankees (63-42) and the Chicago White Sox (52-53) both have dreams of making the MLB postseason, but only one will come out on top in our MLB best bet for Monday.  The road-team Yankees are favored at -160 odds by the online sportsbooks, and part of it might be due to the fact that New York’s impressive 27-20 road record easily dwarfs the 24-27 mark that the White Sox have put up at home this year.  We’ll take a look at both squads and figure out which team is going to be the MLB best bet that pockets everyone some cash.

Tracked MLB bettors are taking the Yankees at about a 70% clip and I’d assume much of that percentage is putting down money because star left-hander C.C. Sabathia (15-5, 1.11 WHIP, 2.56 ERA) is on the mound.  Sabathia has been lights out of late and has also won his last 4 straight starts against the White Sox.  Chicago is only hitting .202 over their last 10 games and hasn’t fared well against south paws this season (.237 average).

The White Sox will counter with right-hander Jake Peavy (4-4, 1.30 WHIP, 5.26 ERA), a former star that has been dealing with injuries for much of the season.  A 100% Peavy could pose problems for this Yankees lineup, but his 6.61 ERA over 16.1 innings indicates that New York might be able to tack some runs on here.  The Yankees are hitting .307 over their past 10 games and have beat Peavy in both of his career starts.  The fireballer hasn’t been sharp in quite a while and it’s becoming obvious that something isn’t quite right with his arm.

I’d say the big equalizer would be that New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez is on the disabled list and Yankees’ shortstop Derek Jeter is listed as questionable after getting drilled in the hand with a pitch on Sunday.  The White Sox also have star first baseman Paul Konerko as questionable with a leg injury after taking one to the calf, so the starting lineups for this meeting are bound to be interesting.  Ultimately the White Sox are not hitting, and that is why I’m picking the Yankees to take home a victory on Monday.  There is something wrong with Peavy and even an injury-depleted Yankees lineup should be able to take advantage of it.

Yankees 5

White Sox 3