Sunday, April 8, 2012

Chicago White Sox at Texas Rangers
Suggestion: Chicago White Sox (+158)

The Texas Rangers have a strong team with as good a chance of returning to the postseason as any other franchise in baseball. But it is still April, and their lineup has yet to show us anything remarkable this early in the season, with a total of six runs in their first two games. A slight edge to Gavin Floyd in tonight's pitching matchup makes this the kind of sizable underdog I like to put my money behind.

Floyd is a solid starter, with a 1.16 WHIP and a 151 to 45 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the 2011 season. His numbers improve away from U.S. Cellular Field, where his ratio improves to 83 to 18. Last year he held the Rangers to a .125 average over 14 innings with a 0.64 ERA. Matt Harrison has trouble under the lights (4.13 ERA, .278 average allowed), and gave up 6 earned runs in 11.1 against the Sox last year. That's enough for me to place a wager, and hopefully collect a nice payout with the underdog. Invest in the Chicago White Sox (+158)