Free Picks: Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros

Sunday afternoon baseball features the White Sox (55-36) playing host to the Astros (56-37). Both teams are at the top of their respective divisions and look to flex their muscles head-to-head. Houston took game 1, while Chicago stole game 2. Who ends this weekend series on top? Both clubs will send out two LHP as Carlos Rodon and Framber Valdez get the nod for their respective teams.

Entering game 3 of this weekend series, the White Sox and Astros have split two games thus far. Sunday afternoon should prove to be a difficult time for both teams at the plate, as Houston and Chicago are sending out two studs. 

Framber Valdez starts for Houston. The lefty is 5-1 on the season with a staggering 2.98 ERA on the year. Opposite of Valdez is another lefty, as Carlos Rodon will start for Chicago. Rodon is 7-3 with a 2.31 ERA. Combined these two pitchers have mustered over 180 strikeouts this season. 

Head-to-head, the Astros are 5-1 against the White Sox in last 6 meetings. Of their last 7 meetings, however, the over has cashed in 5 of them.  

This leads me to my BetPicks prediction. I think your best bet will come from looking at total runs. While both pitchers have low ERAs, I think Houston and Chicago can manage to score at least 8 runs in this game. 

Both the ChiSox and Astros are two of the highest-scoring teams in baseball. The Astros are the highest-scoring team with 504 runs. Meanwhile, the White Sox have scored 467 runs through 91 games. 

While Chicago has a solid pitcher on the mound to start the game, the White Sox could bolster their bullpen. Currently, Chicago relievers have a team ERA of 4.00. As for the Astros, they may look for an extra bullpen arm as their reliever ERA is 4.17. That is far from the worst in the league but it could also be improved. 

With the power on both sides, I can see the over cashing for this game. What I love is that both teams can score tons of runs. I am not necessarily focusing on one team to do the majority of the work.  

Starting pitching may indicate otherwise, but I like the over and is my MLB prediction for this game.

• The over is 5-2 in last 7 meetings head-to-head.
• Valdez has averaged 3 earned runs in each of last 3 starts.
• The total has gone over in 13 of Chicago’s last 16 games.
• The over has cashed in 7 of last 8 games at home for Chicago.