The White Sox will start Dylan Cease (5-2, 3.38) against Houston’s Jose Urquidy (4-3, 3.77). The Astros are -130 at home, with the White Sox at +120. The Astros are -1.5 on the run line, and the run total is 9.
Cease Making Strides For Sox
The White Sox are 16-13 on the road this season and 7-6 as the underdog. They are also 39-28 ATS with an overall record of 43-25.
The White Sox won in 10 innings to finish their short homestand on Wednesday. Andrew Vaughn had three hits while Jose Abreu hit his team-leading 12th home run. Tim Anderson bumped his average up to .313 with two hits as five regulars got the day off.
Third baseman Yoan Moncada missed Wednesday’s game with a sinus infection, and he is questionable for Thursday. The White Sox got bad news on the infield as second baseman Nick Madrigal was ruled out for the season with surgery on a torn hamstring.
Last time out, Cease allowed two runs on four hits over five innings in a 15-2 win at Detroit on Saturday. He struck out seven, walked one, and allowed a home run. On the road this season, he is 2-2 with a 5.79 ERA in six starts while allowing three homers in 28 innings.
Cease has never pitched at Minute Maid Park but does have an outing against Houston under his belt back in 2019. Jose Altuve took him deep in going 2-for-3 while Yuli Gurriel and Michael Brantley were both 1-for-3. Cease lost that game 6-2 as he walked five and allowed five hits in six innings.
Altuve Carrying Astros
The Astros have not played well as favorites this season, going 24-28 ATS. They are 22-13 at home straight up and 34-32 ATS overall.
Altuve is on fire for the Astros. He hit a walk-off grand slam on Tuesday then homered to lead off Wednesday’s game. He went deep a second time on Wednesday and leads the team with 15 on the season while driving in 36 runs.
Houston smashed six homers on Wednesday though Alex Bregman left the game with an injury and is doubtful for Thursday’s contest. Kyle Tucker is also out, but his replacement in the outfield, Chas McCormick, went deep twice on Wednesday.
Urquidy has a tendency to give up homers, as he allowed three solo shots on Friday against Minnesota over seven innings. He has five quality starts on the season but has surrendered 11 long balls. This will be his first career outing against the White Sox.
Betting Analysis
The White Sox are +120 moneyline and +1.5 (-165) run line. The Astros are -130 money line and -1.5 (+140) run line. The total is 9, with the over at -109 and the under -112.
This should be a fantastic series and could easily be a playoff series preview. Both teams are streaking in the right direction, and the offenses are on fire. Anytime you can get the team with the best record as an underdog, you gotta take it.
FREE PICK: White Sox +120