Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox Thursday September 23 Betting Preview

The top two teams in the AL Central will square off Thursday in a day-night doubleheader as the Chicago White Sox (85-66) take on the Cleveland Indians (74-76). The Indians will host these games at Progressive Field, with the first game scheduled for 1:10 pm ET and the second game at 6:10 ET.

These will be the first two games of a five-game series between the two teams. One of Thursday’s games is a makeup from their June 2 cancellation.

At the beginning of the week, the White Sox lost two in a row to the Detroit Tigers before having their finale rained out on Wednesday. Coming into play Thursday, the White Sox have lost six of their last ten games.

Like the White Sox, the Indians’ finale of their four-game series with the Royals was postponed. Prior to that, they had lost two of three to Kansas City.

Odds

In the matinee, the opening line features the White Sox as the favorite at -172 while the Indians’ moneyline sits at +125.

For the evening game, the opening line again favored the White Sox at -185 versus the Indians at +140.

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Pitching Matchup

The first game of the doubleheader will pit Reynaldo Lopez (3-3, 3.00 ERA) of the White Sox against the Indians’ Aaron Civale (11-4, 3.40 ERA).

The White Sox haven’t decided on their pitcher for Game 2, but whoever it is will be opposed by Zach Plesac (10-6, 4.59 ERA).

By The Numbers

The White Sox have been one of the best offensive teams in baseball this season. They currently rank sixth in scoring averaging 4.93 runs per game. The Indians rank 18th, averaging 4.41 runs.

Defensively, it is again the White Sox with the edge. They rank fifth in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 3.99 runs per game (4.20 on the road). The Indians rank 15th, allowing 4.52 runs per game.

White Sox Look To Get Back On Track

While it seems like a foregone conclusion that Chicago will win the AL Central, the White Sox would also like to get back to playing good ball as the playoffs approach. It has been a rough few weeks for Chicago as they are just 8-10 in the month of September.

Offensively, Chicago continues to be led by first baseman Jose Abreu. The reigning MVP is hitting .264/.349/.489 with 29 home runs, 113 runs batted in, and 83 runs scored.

Over the last couple of weeks, though, it has been catcher Yasmani Grandal leading the offense. In that span, he is hitting .268/.415/.537 with three home runs and six runs batted in.

Indians Hope To Avoid White Sox Celebration

All it takes is one game. With the magic number down to two for Chicago, it takes just one loss by Cleveland on Thursday for the White Sox to clinch the division. Hoping to avoid a celebration by Chicago at Progressive Field, the Indians will look to take both games.

Offensively, the team has been led by third baseman Jose Ramirez. This season, he is hitting .267/.359/.549 with a team-leading 35 home runs, 96 runs batted in, 104 runs scored, and 24 stolen bases.

Ramirez has also homered with three runs batted in against the Game 1 starter, Reynaldo Lopez.

Indians Trying To Protect Progressive Field

At 74-76 and 10.5 games back, it is just a matter of time before the Indians see their postseason hopes extinguished by the White Sox. For Cleveland fans, though, they are just hoping it isn’t this weekend.

Granted, a sweep of a five-game series will be extremely challenging against a good Chicago club, but the Indians are catching Chicago at the right time. They have struggled as of late, and they do not seem like quite the intimidating force they were earlier in the season.

At least for Thursday, the Indians should have a good opportunity to take two as the White Sox roll Reynaldo Lopez out in the first game and don’t even know who they are starting in the second.

Granted, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac will have to handle a tough lineup, but if they can, Thursday could be a good day for Indians’ fans.