White Sox vs. Athletics Thursday MLB probable pitchers, odds: Door open for Dylan Cease to become AL Cy Young Award betting favorite

A couple of weeks ago, it looked as if the AL Cy Young Award race was over from a betting perspective. Houston's Justin Verlander had a solid lead over the White Sox's Dylan Cease. However, Verlander hasn't pitched since Aug. 28 and may not anytime soon, and Cease is coming off a near-no-hitter. Cease is on the mound tonight against a bad Oakland team and with another dominant effort could pass Verlander as the betting favorite at Caesars Sportsbook. Verlander is currently at -140 and Cease +100.

On Wednesday, Verlander threw off the front of the mound in Houston as he continues his rehab from a right calf injury suffered Aug. 28 – the first time he threw off a mound, although he technically wasn't "on" it.

The two-time Cy Young winner suffered a fascial disruption but no muscle fiber disruption in his right calf while running to cover first base during that Aug. 28 start against the Orioles. Verlander is eligible to come off the 15-day injured list Sept. 14 when the team is in Detroit, but that's not going to happen. The team is hopeful he can make a couple of starts before the playoffs. The 39-year-old is second in the majors with 16 wins and leads with a 1.84 ERA and 0.86 WHIP.

Cease (13-6, 2.13 ERA) is tied for the MLB lead with an opponents' batting average of just .185, is second in ERA and fifth in strikeouts (197). Last Saturday against the Twins, he came within one out of his first no-hitter, but Luis Arraez hit a single on a 1-1 pitch. Cease had to settle for the complete-game one-hitter. He was the second pitcher in White Sox history to lose a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth, joining Ken Brett who did so on May 26, 1976 vs. the Angels.

Cease's start was Chicago's 133rd game of the season (now have played 137) and Cease was the first MLB pitcher since Wilbur Wood in 1972 to make 20-plus starts of zero or one earned run allowed through 133 games of a season. Cease and Bob Gibson (1968) are the only pitchers in MLB history to accomplish the feat in fewer than 30 starts. Gibson won the 1968 Cy Young.

Cease has a 1.23 ERA over his past 18 starts, the best in the majors and the second-lowest mark in Sox history over an 18-start stretch in the same season. He would seem to have a good chance for a dominant effort tonight as Oakland has the worst batting average in the majors at .216 and has scored the second-fewest runs in baseball. Cease allowed one run over six innings in a home win over the A's on July 31. He has never pitched in the Oakland Coliseum. The right-hander is -146 at Caesars to get the win tonight and has an over/under of 1.5 earned runs allowed. The Sox are -205 favorites.

It's rookie lefty JP Sears (5-1, 2.37 ERA) for the A's. He hasn't faced the White Sox.

Which Fantasy Football sleepers, breakouts and busts should you target and fade? And which QB shocks the NFL with a top-five performance? Join SportsLine now to get Fantasy Football cheat sheets for every single position, all from the model that called Jonathan Taylor's huge season, and find out.