MLB BASEBALL BETTING PREVIEW - CHICAGO WHITE SOX @ CHICAGO CUBS

MLB Baseball

2012-05-18 - Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

CHICAGO WHITE SOX @ CHICAGO CUBS
Baseball : North America : MLB
Friday, May 18th, 2012, 2:20PM US
(7:20PM GMT)

---

PREVIEW

Neither of these teams own impressive records, with the White Sox only slightly better at 18-21 while the Cubs are 15-23. The Cubs are on a 3 game losing streak but I was really encouraged by the way they rallied in the 9th against Philadelphia, despite losing 8-7.

The White Sox go with Philip Humber, who hit the headlines with his perfect game earlier this season against Seattle, but boy has he sucked in the rest of his games. Humber is 1-2 with a 5.77ERA because since that perfect game he has been destroyed in his next 13 innings, giving up 20 runs!

Humbers last start went better, holding Kansas City to 1 but the team still lost because the White Sox have one of the worst bullpens in MLB, and they saw it finish 9-1! Humber has faced the Cubs once before, a year ago and he was good there, winning a 1-0 match. however, The White Sox have lost all but 3 of his last 17 starts, and one of those was the perfect game.

The Cubs counter with Jeff Samardzija, who is 4-1 with a 2.89ERA. His last 27 innings of work have seen him surrender just 3 runs combined! He's giving up just 1 hit per 2 innings in that time, striking out more than 1 per inning and when you look at his home form you can see why the Cubs are favs despite being on a 3 game losing streak.

Samardzija is 2-0 at home with a fantastic 0.81ERA. He's never started against the White Sox, and that is always an advantage for the pitcher, despite doing some bullpen work. The Cubs have won the last 4 games in which he has started.

BETTING VERDICT

I like the Cubs, and I think the ML price on them is fair. However, I just get the feeling there is a pitching mismatch and while the Cubs pitcher is showing stingy form, Humber is wildly erratic. If the Sox lose, it will likely be by a fair bit, especially since their bullpen is so weak it always gives us a chance at the Cubs scoring more runs. Let's go with the handicap bet for a better payout.

The Pick :