Sunday MLB Betting Odds, Preview, Prediction for White Sox vs. Tigers: Expect Plenty Of Runs in Motor City Showdown (July 4)

White Sox vs. Tigers Odds

After shellacking the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, the Detroit Tigers will be back for more Sunday against starting pitcher Lucas Giolito.

With the righty coming off a very shaky outing minus his high spin rates, Detroit might be able to get the bat on the ball some here.

Will that be enough to swing things its way or do concerns over Matt Manning redirect us to the total? Let’s have a look at the matchup.

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Injuries Continue to Plague White Sox

Already without Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, the White Sox were really up against it. Just one more injury to a big name would push this team over the edge, and that’s exactly what’s happened over the last few days. Chicago has seen both Yoan Moncada (hand) and Yasmani Grandal (calf) pick up injuries that, as of Saturday, were still keeping them on the bench. Without those two, and now down four big power bats, life seems a lot more difficult.

Yet the show goes on for the first-place team in the AL Central. Chicago still managed to score five runs without even its B-grade lineup in a loss Saturday, and entered that game with a five-game winning streak. That’s because in place of some big names in Gavin Sheets, Brian Goodwin and Andrew Vaughn have really hit well over the past two weeks.

Lucas Giolito will be handed the ball for Chicago, and he’s seen a steady drop in his spin rate over the past two starts to a season-low average of 1845 RPMs in his last start. In said game, he allowed three earned runs against the Twins and struck out just one hitter, looking like a different pitcher out there. This will officially be his second start in the post-foreign substances era, and we may see one of the league’s Cy Young hopefuls continue to trend down.

Another thing working against Giolito will be his 4.57 ERA in eight day games. It’s not something that’s really hindered him over the course of his career, but he’s been much worse in the afternoon this year.

Detroit Tigers

The story will be the longtime top-100 prospect Matt Manning making fourth-career start and hoping to turn things around after an ugly outing in Cleveland, where he allowed nine earned runs. To that point, things were going well for Manning, who had limited the Angels and Cardinals to just a couple runs apiece in 10 2/3 innings.

Manning had an outstanding 2019 in Double-A, pitching to a 2.56 ERA and striking out 10 per nine innings, but his major-league stint in 2021 comes on the heels of four poor starts in Triple-A this year. Though he was able to find his swing-and-miss stuff in those outings, he’s yet to rack up strikeouts at this level, which has made a .376 xwOBA on contact a bit troubling.

The right-hander has only allowed three barrels, which is a good sign at least, so perhaps things will level back out for him against the White Sox. Then again, this is one of the league’s most dangerous offenses which still managed to chase Tarik Skubal early Saturday despite an unassuming lineup.

White Sox-Tigers Pick

With question marks surrounding both pitchers and both offenses entering this game, it seems impossible to figure out what is going to transpire. With that being said, the safest bet here is probably that the White Sox are going to hit Manning, considering how both are trending, but I’m not so sure Giolito will hold it down on the other end.

This has me focused on an enticing total. I think Giolito’s struggles will continue as he tries to get used to pitching without a foreign substance, and the Tigers will stay hot at the dish.

Both teams should do enough to get us there.

Pick: Over 9 (-115)