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Carrie Stroup here with your Chicago White Sox vs. Boston Red Sox betting line for July 19. Remember, you can always place your Baseball bets at Sportsbook here and receive up to $350 in FREE CASH if qualified.
Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Boston -135 & 10.5 under -115
The White Sox will look to salvage a split of their four-game set with the Red Sox, who won with a commanding 10-1 victory on Wednesday night, and get former MVP Dustin Pedroia back in their lineup.
The surprising 23-year-old Jose Quintana takes the mound for Chicago in this one, sporting a 2.89 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in nine starts this season. His team is 7-2 in his nine starts of 2012, but two of his past three starts have been rough, with a 5.68 ERA in those outings. The Royals and Yankees were the teams that tattooed him, though he was able to shut down one of baseball’s most potent offenses in the Rangers two starts ago, yielding just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts in eight innings of work. He faces Clay Buchholz, who has a 5.54 ERA in 15 starts in 2012, despite an 8-3 record. Long balls have been a major problem for him, yielding one per start, including 11 in eight home outings. The White Sox are fourth in the majors with 109 home runs this year. The Red Sox are fifth with 108, but could be limited by Quintana, who induces groundballs and limits base-runners with just 11 walks in 56 innings.
The White Sox have been a surprisingly strong team on the road with a 26-19 record (.578), which is better than their home record of 24-22. Part of their success on the road is due to their bullpen’s performance there, where it has a 3.20 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Furthermore the White Sox are an impressive 7-2 at Fenway Park over the past three seasons, although Quintana has never faced the Red Sox in his career. Chicago is 4-1 in Quintana’s five road starts this season despite his pedestrian away numbers of 4.18 ERA and 1.36 WHIP.
The Red Sox lineup will look different Thursday with DH David Ortiz (Achilles) heading to the DL, but 2B Dustin Pedroia (thumb) is set to return. Pedroia is an important addition, but Ortiz, who leads the team in BA (.316), HR (23), RBI (58), runs (65) and OPS (1.024), will be a major loss for the highest-scoring offense in baseball this season. But Boston was just fine without its lone All-Star on Wednesday, especially OF Cody Ross who hit a pair of three-run homers, and 1B Adrian Gonzalez who had four RBI, and is 7-for-12 in this series. The Red Sox will need to keep their bats hot considering Buchholz has a 1-2 record, 6.53 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in four career starts versus the White Sox. Luckily for him, the Boston bullpen and its 2.99 ERA and 1.16 WHIP is certainly capable of bailing him out of serious trouble.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
