After the Dodgers took the first game of this series in commanding fashion, the White Sox powered to a four-run win of their own on Wednesday night. Six of their runs came in the last two innings. Let’s break down the betting odds for Thursday night’s White Sox-Dodgers series finale to make our MLB predictions and pick the best bet.
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Best MLB White Sox-Dodgers Betting Pick & Prediction: Chicago Won’t Shut Down Freddie Freeman
White Sox-Dodgers Odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
White Sox: +124 | Dodgers: -146
Over 8.5: -122 | Under 8.5: +100
The Dodgers started star RHP Clayton Kershaw (8-4) last night, and his six solid innings weren’t enough for them to escape with a win. They’ll now turn to RHP Michael Grove (0-2), whose 8.28 ERA isn’t great but is massively inflated relative to his 4.62 xERA. The White Sox will start RHP Dylan Cease (3-3), whose 4.38 ERA and 4.47 xERA aren’t nearly as inconsistent as Grove’s. These teams are well-matched on the mound, but I’d give Chicago a slight advantage, at least until Cease exits.
The Dodgers have a massive advantage on offense. L.A. ranks second in expected weighted on-base average, or xwOBA, at .352. That’s far better than 29th-ranked Chicago at .301. Four individual batters for the Dodgers own better xwOBA than Chicago’s best batter in the metric, designated hitter Jake Burger. Burger led the team with three RBIs last night, tying his second-best performance of the young season.
The White Sox aren’t usually as good on offense as they were last night. They even looked like their normal, beatable selves for the first seven innings of Wednesday night’s game. All of this is to say that Chicago’s offense should regress to the mean on Thursday, so it makes sense to back L.A. at such a reasonable price. The Dodgers are 21-11 at home and 20-9 after a loss this season, which ranks third and second in the MLB, respectively.
We can parlay Freddie Freeman with the L.A. moneyline for a wager with odds of +115 at BetMGM. Freeman, a right-handed batter, has a leg up against the lefty-heavy White Sox. Chicago has just three left-handed pitchers on the roster, all of whom have taken the mound already this series. Freeman has recorded at least one hit in every series he has played so far but is hitless through the first two games of this one. New to BetMGM? You can get first-bet insurance worth up to $1,000 when registering!
Best White Sox-Dodgers MLB Pick: Freddie Freeman 1+ Hit/Dodgers Moneyline +115 at BetMGM
