The American League Central Division has been a nip and tuck affair for weeks, with two of the unlikeliest teams competing.
2008-08-19
The American League Central Division has been a nip and tuck affair for weeks, with two of the unlikeliest teams competing. If this was Cleveland and Detroit going toe-to-toe in the later stages of August, this would have just played out as most would have figured. Instead, the Chicago White Sox emerged early in the season with salty skipper Ozzie Guillen leading the way and Minnesota played baseball the way it was intended and has outmaneuvered the opposition all season and is one game behind the White Sox in the division play and the same margin in the wild card chase.
Minnesota (70-54, +19.3 units) was stumped last night by Justin Duchscherer and Oakland 3-2, to fall a game behind Chicago. That ended the Twins four-game winning streak, as they banged out double digit hits for the fourth consecutive contest, but could not capitalize. Manager Ron Gardenhire was not overly concerned about one ball game, “We feel pretty good with ourselves. We’re not going to quit and we got back into it,” Gardenhire said. “With our ballclub you feel like you’re going to find a way to get a big hit and tie the ballgame. We just couldn’t come up with one.” The skipper has plenty of reason to feel pretty good about his club, the Twins haven’t been more than a game out of first place since July 30, when they were 1 1/2 games behind Chicago, and they haven’t lost consecutive games at home during the same series since losing the first two in a set against the New York Yankees May 30 and 31.
Minnesota is 17-5 against the money line in home games in the second half of the season and again faces an Oakland squad that is 6-23 since the All-Star break and has not won a series on the road since mid-June when they defeated San Francisco. Though last night’s loss was the first of its kind in 2008, the Twinkies are still awesome 13-1 with an on-base percentage of .393 or better over their last three games. Sportsbook.com likes the pitching matchup with the Twins Kevin Slowey (9-8, 3.94, 1.085 WHIP) facing the A’s Sean Gallagher (4-5, 4.50, 1.524), establishing them as -200 money line favorites with total of Un8.5. Minny is 44-23 at the Metrodome, garnering the second most profit in baseball at +20 units.
About 60 seconds later on the south side of Chicago, the White Sox (71-53, +14.4 units) will once again face the American League’s worst team in Seattle. The White Sox are back to 2005 World Series form, with solid starting pitching, a deep bullpen and bountiful home runs. At present, this club is not quite as good in the first two categories as its predecessor; nonetheless they are bopping the baseball, leading the majors in home runs with 182, including 33 this month alone. Carlos Quentin leads the big leagues with 35 and seven other players are in double figures.
The Pale Hose have won 38 of last 51 contests at US Cellular Field and are demolishing bad teams like the Mariners with 18-6 mark versus clubs with winning percentage below .400. Left-hander Clayton Richard has the starting assignment for Chicago and has been dreadful to date with 0-2 record and 9.64 ERA, being recalled from the minors just this past Friday with Jose Contreras back on the disabled list.
Seattle at least will have a chance with Felix Hernandez (7-7, 3.04, 1.291) on the mound. Hernandez is 0-1 in last five starts, thanks to faulty bullpen and offense not always showing when he pitches. The Mariners are only 8-20 in last 28 contests; however is 5-0 in King Felix’s last five road starts against winning teams. The M’s have opened as -108 money line favorite, with total Ov9.
The total deserves consideration, with Seattle on 8-0 Over run and the White Sox launching homers everywhere. The Mariners are 7-0 Over facing lefties and Chicago is 11-4-1 Over when their opponent allows five runs or more in their previous game.
Since Minnesota and Chicago do not meet again until the last week of the season, plenty of scoreboard watching for both clubs down the stretch.
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