Toronto Blue Jays vs. Chicago White Sox Pick 6/8/21

Toronto Blue Jays (30-27) vs. Chicago White Sox (36-23)

When: 8:10 p.m., Tuesday, June 8

Where: Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago

Moneyline: TOR +143/CHW -154 (BetNow – 100% Bonus up to $1000!!!!!)

Runline: Blue Jays +1.5/White Sox -1.5

Total: 8.5

Starting Pitchers: Robbie Ray (3-2, 3.57 ERA, 1.14 WHIP) vs. Carlos Rodon (5-2, 1.98 ERA, 0.82 WHIP)

The Fortress

The Castle is the nickname for the White Sox’s Triple-A team, the Charlotte Knights, but the Fortress might be appropriate for the South Side of Chicago because nobody in the American League can touch Chicago’s 23-10 record at home on the year. The only reason the White Sox aren’t running away with first place in the AL is that they’re really middling on the road, as they’ve gone just 13-13 outside of Chicago.

But at home, the White Sox have been very difficult to defeat. It helps that Chicago gets to play more than a third of its home schedule against Detroit, Minnesota, and Kansas City, but regardless of who it plays, the fact is that the White Sox are 13-4 in their past 17 home games and 11 of those wins came on the run line. This is a rare situation where you don’t have to bet the runline to get anything that resembles a decent return because the Blue Jays are at least a quality opponent, but given the White Sox’s track record in their ballpark, it might not be a bad idea to back a substantial Chicago victory if you’re leaning toward taking the Sox.

Power and Average

One way the Blue Jays can counteract the White Sox’s home-field advantage is the fact that they can hit for both average and for power. In today’s game, far too many teams are all about the home run (such as the Yankees) as the only real way to bring in runs. Toronto certainly isn’t opposed to hitting home runs, as the Jays have hit an American League-leading 84 of them this season, but the Jays also rank second in the majors in batting average, hitting at a .258 clip.

However, this isn’t a sign to blindly bet the over for two main reasons. First, the books have gotten wise to the Jays’ ability to hit and set the totals higher as a result. Second, Toronto can actually pitch pretty darn well. Of the Jays’ past four wins, three went under the total because the Jays held the opponent to two runs or less.

Missing Bats

When Robbie Ray isn’t getting his strikeouts, things aren’t likely to go all that well for the Jays. In his past six starts, the numbers have borne that out, as Ray has fanned nine or more hitters four times and helped Toronto put all four games in the win column. On the other side of the coin, he got five against the Yankees and seven against the Rays, and even though he wasn’t the reason for the loss, the Blue Jays did end up losing both games.

The White Sox really aren’t a team that strikes out a lot, as they rank 17th in strikeouts on the season. Then again, Ray’s numbers haven’t really been congruent with the ability of the team he’s facing to put the bat on the ball. Nobody strikes out more than Tampa Bay, yet Ray ended up only recording seven strikeouts the second time he faced the Rays this season. Atlanta, on the other hand, is a middling team in terms of strikeouts and handed Ray his highest strikeout total of the season with 10. If the number is set at eight or more, this is a prop to look at taking.

Betting Trends

• The Blue Jays are 4-0 in their past four games following a loss.
• The Blue Jays are 0-4 in their past four games against a left-handed starter.
• The White Sox are 6-1 in their past seven following an off day.
• The White Sox have won four straight against the AL East.
• The under is 5-1 in the Blue Jays’ past six following an off day.
• The under is 6-1 in the White Sox’ past seven games against the AL East.
• The under is 4-1 in the teams’ past five meetings.

Weather Report

It’s going to be a nice night for baseball in Chicago, with temperatures at 76 degrees at first pitch. The wind will blow in from center at 7 miles per hour.

Dan’s pick

The White Sox have really played well at home as of late, and the Blue Jays are having serious problems hitting left-handed pitchers. As long as Carlos Rodon pitches the way he usually has this season, the Sox should have the edge, and I can’t see a reason to predict that he’ll have an off day. Given the White Sox’s success at home and that seven of the Jays’ past eight losses have been by two runs or more, it’s not a bad idea to take Chicago on the run line here. Bet your MLB picks FREE this week by taking advantage of a 100% REAL CASH bonus offer on your first deposit of $100 to $300 at MyBookie Sportsbook! (Must use bonus code PREDICT100 to receive the special bonus).