Baseball Wagering on Houston @ White Sox 5/19

• 19 May 2016

HRW’s baseball wagering angle examines the possibility of a 17-24 Astros’ team completing the sweep of the Sox in Chicago.  Houston’s awful April was one of the more surprising disappointments early on in the 2016 season.  To start getting back to the success of last year, they must first make it to the .500 mark.  White Sox’s ace Chris Sale is going to make that difficult to achieve in an 8PM EST start on 5/19.  What is the path to profit here for HRWager to show to their friends this evening?

 

Baseball Wagering : Stop Striking Out

Almost always, the message stop striking out is meant for offenses to heed.  However, Chris Sale has took this mantra for his own pitching prowess and has met with increased success.  The key is that he no longer has the mindset that he needs to fan the world.  Yes, his strike out total of 53 is good but he is throwing more for contact these days.  It is a trust that young arms grow into with their teams.  Placement allows one to go easier on their arms.  At age 27, the amassment of 200+ innings per year could cause his career to crash soon.  As a result of this different approach, not only is he 8-0 this year but his ERA is under two.  A career low because in part his energy reserves are higher for the later innings this year.

Typical Astro Feast or Famine

Houston has such success at home last year while stumbling at home.  This season Collin McHugh is sticking to this pattern.  Astros starter is 4-3 with a 5.58ERA overall is bad enough but his work on the road is horrid with a 8.74ERA.  Combine that with the fact that Houston is winning ugly and the opening -185 got nibbled down to near -195 by overnight sharp action.  Only player really creating good contact for the Astros in Chicago is Altuve. He had three hits yesterday in the 5-3 decision and is historically strong against Sale.

We will see what level of wisdom Sale has in this one.  Altuve is the one threat in this game.  Work around him and White Sox should be good here.  The total for this one has jumped from 7 to 7 1/2.  Runline for the White Sox -1 1/2 is @ +100.  Chicago has been in a slump so it is feast or famine tonight.  Their advantage is good but not great.  Avoid the near -195 chalk on the ML and opt for the +100 runline instead.  Not many scenarios see them winning by just one run tonight.  Good fortune and we will see you later today here at the HRW.