Alex Trautwig / Getty Images. Pictured: Nestor Cortes
Yankees vs. White Sox Odds
| Yankees Odds | +160 |
| White Sox Odds | -190 |
| Over/Under | 8.5 |
| Time | Sunday, 1:10 p.m. ET |
| TV | TBS |
| Odds as of Sunday at 8:00 a.m. ET and via DraftKings | |
After splitting a couple of games in the most dramatic fashion thinkable, the Yankees and White Sox will do it again in Chicago in the rubber match of a weekend set.
Will the Yankees Win Their Sixth Straight Series Sunday?
Remarkably, the Yankees haven’t lost a series since July 27, and with a win on Saturday they guaranteed themselves a chance at a sixth straight series victory.
During that time, the Yankees haven’t been the most competent offense, ranking just 22nd with a 94 wRC+, and they’ve struggled mightily in the power department with a .131 ISO.
At home, New York has found a bit more success in the power department, though Guaranteed Rate Field has stayed true to its home run park factors in this series and helped the Yankees get on the board with plenty of dingers. It’s still going to take an extreme hitter’s park to get the Yankees to collect the homers they so desperately need to survive.
If there’s one nice thing to say here about the Yankees’ offense, it’s that over that span they’re still walking at a 10.1% clip and striking out just 23.5%. They’re getting the ball back in play and getting runners on base – it’s just been the same story all season when it comes to situational hitting and driving in the runs.
JOEY GALLO 😳
His second HR of the night gives the Yankees (+120 ML) a 7-4 leadpic.twitter.com/zSRbUfysX8
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) August 15, 2021
Nestor Cortes will be called upon to call this one for the Yankees, and he had been stellar out of the rotation up until he yielded four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings on the road in Kansas City last week.
It was out of character for Cortes to allow two homers in that contest; even as a fly ball pitcher he’s done a great job of limiting home runs and barrels in general. He still struck out five in that outing and now owns a robust 26.4% strikeout rate on the year with an impressive 3.5% barrel rate.
Behind Cortes, the elephant in the room is the Yankees’ bullpen, which is down Clay Holmes and Aroldis Chapman and struggling to find guys to take on high-leverage roles. Albert Abreu eventually secured a save for New York on Saturday, but the bigger story was the shortcomings of Chad Green and Zack Britton in the late innings. That’ll certainly be working against the Yankees on Sunday.
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Will the White Sox Stay Hot Against Another Lefty?
The White Sox are a tough team to figure out. They lead by double-digits in the AL Central and don’t exactly have their foot on the gas with numerous losses to the Royals in the last couple of weeks.
However, they’ve had two memorable comebacks against the Yankees and have been capable of piling up the runs, particularly with Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert now fully healed from injury and back in the lineup after long absences.
One thing that’s pretty simple is the White Sox’s performance against lefties. Chicago stands fifth in the league with a 111 wRC+ against southpaws and have featured a stellar .180 ISO in the split.
It makes total sense given the right-handed power bats listed above, Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu and a switch-hitter in Yoan Moncada. The White Sox are probably the best-equipped team in the league to deal with lefties.
Lucas Giolito will get the ball in a day game once again, which has been his biggest point of weakness in 2021. He’s pitched in 10 of them, compiling a 5.01 ERA and allowing 11 home runs. in 55 2/3 innings. He’s also walked 21 in those frames.
Other than that, Giolito has been pretty solid this year, with a few exceptions. One of them was a six-run clunker against Kansas City a couple of times ago.
Yankees-White Sox Pick
The Yankees may look underwhelming at the plate during their big second-half run, but it’s important to remember over the same span (since July 28) that the White Sox own just a 105 wRC+, which is hardly a dominant number.
There have been some memorable ups, but also considerable downs. This was also once the undisputed champion of left-handed pitching, and now it’s hanging on to a top-five spot in that category.
I think this team can be gotten from an offensive perspective, and a high-strikeout control guy like Cortes should be more than up to the task here against some pesky Chicago bats.
He should be able to hold them at bay at least long enough to allow the Yankees to help continue a miserable trend of disappointing in day games for Lucas Giolito.
I’m going to take the first five line here to avoid more pain from the Yankees bullpen, which should also be taxed now.
Pick: Yankees First Five +0.5 (+100)