The Toronto Blue Jays look to even things up with the Chicago White Sox as these two teams meet in Game 2 of their current set on Wednesday.
Robbie Ray shut down the White Sox for six innings before Andrew Vaughn homered in the eighth and Chicago scored five runs in the 8th inning to run away with a 6-1 win over the Blue Jays in Game 1.
Chicago has won two in a row and four out of their last five games played. They are tied with Boston for the second-most wins in the AL and have the best home record in the majors. Toronto has dropped two in a row and has won just once in their last four games and is seven games behind first place in the AL East.
The White Sox have won five out of the last seven head to head meetings against the Blue Jays.
The Toronto Blue Jays are 30-28 on the season and they are seven games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East team standings. The Blue Jays lost Game 1 of this series and scored only one run on 8 hits with Jonathan Davis delivering the lone RBI.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is tied for the home run lead in the majors with 18 and he is also one of the league leaders in batting average and RBIs. However, Guerrero only has two RBIs in his last five games. Randal Grichuk has 12 home runs and 43 RBIs on the season and he has four RBIs in his last five games played.
Alek Manoah will open on top of the mound for the Blue Jays. The 23-year old right-hander has started two games and is 1-0 with an ERA of 3.86 and a WHIP of 1.18. Toronto is 2-0 in his starts and he has pitched in a total of 9 ⅓ innings while allowing four runs. Manoah lasted just 3 ⅓ innings in his last start while giving up four runs or four hits including three homers.
The Chicago White Sox are 37-23 on the season and they currently have a four-game lead in the American League Central division. Chicago ranks 5th in the majors in ERA and they gave up just one run in Game 1 of this series after recording a shutout in their previous game.
Andrew Vaugh hit a home run while Leury Garcia had 2 RBIs in their Game 1 win. Jose Abreu is among the league leaders in RBIs with 46 and he also has 11 home runs to lead the team. However, Abreu is currently on a slump with only one hit in his last four games played.
Lance Lynn will start for the White Sox in Game 2. The 34-year old has a record of 7-1 in 10 starts with an ERA of 1.23 and a WHIP of 0.92. In his last start, Lynn lasted six innings and gave up just one run on four hits in a 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. The White Sox have won in six of his last seven starts, including his last three. Lynn has conceded just two runs in his last three starts but this will be his first start against Toronto this season.
Toronto is 4-0 in their last four Game 2s of a series and 4-1 in their last five games after a loss. The Blue Jays are 7-2 in their last nine games against a right-handed starter, and 7-3 in their last 10 games played. However, they are just 1-4 in their last five games against an opponent with a winning record.
Chicago is 6-0 in their last six games after allowing 2 runs or less in their previous game. The White Sox are 5-0 in their last five games against the American League East, 6-2 in their last eight games after a win, 38-13 in their last 51 games as home favorites, and 40-14 in their last 54 home games.
The White Sox are 5-2 in their last seven games played against the Blue Jays. Chicago won Game 1 of this series and they have won four out of their last five games played. The White Sox have conceded one run in winning their previous two games. Lynn has also allowed just two runs in his last three starts.
Toronto won in Manoah’s last start but he wasn’t impressive as he gave up four runs and three homers in just 3 ⅓ innings. Chicago’s hitters will get to Toronto’s rookie and he could be out of this one early. This one should be played out like Game 1 with Chicago scoring a few runs and getting a good outing from their pitching staff.
Prediction: Chicago White Sox
The total has gone under in five out of the last six games of Toronto against a starting pitcher with a WHIP of less than 1.15. The under is 4-1 in their last five Games 2s of a series, 4-1 in their last five games after a loss, and 5-2 in their last seven games against the American League Central.
The under is 4-0 in Chicago’s last four games when their opponent allows five runs or more in their previous game, 7-1 in their last 8 games against the American League East, 6-1 in their last seven games as home favorites, 4-1 in their last five games played overall, and 6-1 in their last seven home games.
The total has gone under in five out of the last six games played between these two teams. The under is also 4-1 in their last five meetings in Chicago.
Game 1 of this series went under the total. Lynn has allowed only two runs in his last two starts and should have another solid outing here. Manoah was hit hard in his last start and we could see a repeat of that here. I think this will be played the same way as Game 1 and the score won’t be any different. Give me the under.
Prediction: Under 8.5
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