Game 1 of the American League Division Series is Thursday with the AL Central champion Chicago White Sox visiting the AL West-winning Houston Astros. First pitch from Minute Maid Park is 4:07 p.m. ET and shown on Fox Sports 1. Houston is listed as a -130 favorite (risk $130 to win $100) on the money line in the latest White Sox vs. Astros odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over-under for total runs scored is 7.5 (see the latest lines for every game on our MLB odds page).
Before making any White Sox vs. Astros picks, you NEED to see what SportsLine expert Matt Severance has to say.
Severance, SportsLine's breaking news writer, multi-sport handicapper and an Early Edge podcast regular, is 147-107 in his past 254 MLB picks, returning more than $2,400. Severance is 33-14 on his last 47 picks involving White Sox games, returning nearly $1,600. Anyone who has followed him is WAY up.
Houston finished with one of the best home records in the majors at 51-30, while the White Sox were just 40-41 away and were swept a four-game set at Minute Maid Park from June 17-20. The Astros led the majors in runs scored (863) and were second in OPS (.783). They had their top five hitters -- Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa, Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel – in the same starting lineup just 29 times but were 18-11 in them. Everyone is healthy now.
On the mound, it's right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (13-5), who led qualified American League starters this year in opponents' batting average (.205), opponents OPS (.628) and hits per 9 IP (6.76) while ranking second in ERA (3.16), tied for second in winning pct. (.722) and T-5th in wins (13).
The White Sox closed the regular season winning six of seven and may have the best bullpen in the majors led by Michael Kopech and All-Star closers Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks. Starting pitcher Lance Lynn (11-6, 2.69) would have won the AL ERA title but fell a few innings short of qualifying.
Now, Severance has set his sights on White Sox vs. Astros. We can tell you he's leaning Over the total and he's also found a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the money line. You ABSOLUTELY need to see what he has to say before locking in any MLB picks of your own.
So who wins White Sox vs. Astros? And which side of the line has all the value? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of White Sox vs. Astros you should be all over on Thursday, all from the expert that is crushing his MLB picks in 2021!
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