Thursday MLB: N.Y. Yankees (62-39) at Chicago White Sox (51-51)
Despite having to face the red-hot New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox still are thrilled to be home.
They just finished a 1-6 road trip and were swept by the Twins in Minnesota to fall to third in the AL Central. When Chicago started the trip, it was tied for first; now it is three games back of the Tigers.
And Wednesday’s loss was a double whammy for the White Sox, as shortstop Alexei Ramirez was injured. He left the game in the seventh inning with what is being initially diagnosed as a sprained right ankle. The injury happened as he was attempting to break up a double play.
Ramirez will have X-rays today back in Chicago and for sure won’t play at least tonight.
“We’ll give him a day and see if he feels better,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. “He’s not playing (Thursday).”
It’s likely that Jayson Nix would play short in Ramirez’s absence, with Chris Getz moving to second base. But that’s a definite offensive downgrade for Chicago against a powerful Yankee team. And Chicago is just 4-for-29 (.138) with runners in scoring position in the last six games. At least rookie third baseman Gordon Beckham has continued to hit, batting .420 in his last 15 games.
The Yankees have opened as -120 favorites for tonight’s opener on WagerWeb.com.
New York has won eight of 10 and seems to be pulling away from Boston in the AL East with a 3.5-game lead. The Yanks rank second in the AL with a .276 batting average and have six guys with at least 15 homers. Mark Texeira leads the team with 26 homers and is 18 for 52 (.346) with five homers and 11 RBIs in 13 games since the All-Star break.
The Yankees start lefty Andy Pettitte (8-6, 4.67) tonight. He is 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA in four starts since beating Seattle on July 1.
Chicago counters with right-hander Gavin Floyd (8-6, 4.24). Floyd has a 1-0 career record with a 6.75 ERA lifetime against the Yankees, but has a 14-8 mark with a career 3.80 ERA at home.
This is the first meeting of the year between these two, with New York winning the season series 5-2 last year.
MLB Betting at WagerWeb.com
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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