White Sox, Cease Cover Over Tigers
Tigers vs. White Sox, 2:10 ET
The Tigers were the most disappointing team for me personally. I thought after how they ended last year they would carry that momentum over with their offseason additions. Unfortunately, none of that really worked out. In reality, the most disappointing team is probably the White Sox. They will not make the playoffs this year. Whatever is happening on the southside of Chicago will need to change next year.
Tyler Alexander makes the start for the Tigers. He is coming off a nice outing where he went seven innings against the Orioles and allowed just two hits. You'd never really guess it by looking at just the end result of the Tigers games. In the last 12 games that Alexander has appeared, they have lost 10 of them. However, in August he gave them at least five innings in four of six starts, and only allowed more than three earned runs in one of the games. September has been worse with the exclusion of the start against the Orioles. In his first two starts, he allowed 10 earned runs in 9.1 innings. All of the starts this month have come on the road, a spot that sees him with a 6.14 ERA. I don't have much faith that he will perform well today.
Dylan Cease, the potential Cy Young winner, takes the ball for the White Sox. I've already mentioned that they are all but eliminated from playoff contention, but it certainly isn't due to this man. Cease has been awesome this year with a 2.13 ERA overall (second best in the majors) and he is fifth in strikeouts. He has had the Tigers number this year going 16 innings and allowing just two earned runs. This month has been great for him as well with 26 innings pitched and only four earned runs allowed. He is remaining as dominant as ever. The problem is that the White Sox are so bad they waste his starts. They've lost five of their last eight starts he's given them and gone just 2-2 in this dominant month.
Still, even as bad as the White Sox have been, and they have lost five straight, I think they can get to Alexander today. This will be one of Cease's last starts for the year. I don't know that the team chemistry will even allow the White Sox to care about him going for the Cy Young, but it is possible. Let's play the White Sox -1.5 at -120.
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