Mariners vs. White Sox prediction and odds for Tuesday, August 22 (Seattle Stays Hot)

Part of me thought that the Seattle Mariners would let their foot off the gas a bit yesterday after sweeping the Astros over the weekend. That was not the case in the series opener in Chicago.

The Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 14-2 behind six RBI from Cal Raleigh. Seattle is now just two games behind the first-place Rangers and a half game behind the Astros in the AL West at 70-55. The White Sox are 49-76. 

Today, the Mariners will send Bryan Woo to the mound to try and extend their seven-game win streak. Mike Clevinger will oppose him for Chicago. Woo is 1-3 in his rookie season with a 4.75 ERA in 11 starts while Clevinger is 5-5 in 16 starts with a 3.26 ERA. 

Here are the odds for Seattle and Chicago: 

While the Mariners are ripping through this latest portion of their schedule, the White Sox have lost seven of their last nine and aren’t playing very inspiring baseball. Over the past two weeks they are 24th in team OPS and 30th in team ERA. Since July 1, their bullpen is 23rd with a 5.13 ERA and really Clevinger is one of the few bright spots. 

Last time out he went seven scoreless with seven strikeouts, but his 4.42 FIP and 24th percentile strikeout rate give me very little confidence. Bryan Woo actually has a better FIP, 4.07, despite his ERA being near five. Woo has 60 strikeouts in 55 innings this season and last time out went six innings and allowed two runs on four hits. Woo is coming off an injury and will be pitching for the first time since August 3. I expect him to benefit from the time off. 

Clevinger has been the beneficiary of some good luck so far this year and that luck is going to come to an end at some point. You don’t have an ERA that much lower than your FIP a few lucky breaks. 

The Mariners scored 14 runs last night without Julio Rodriguez in the lineup, so when the hottest hitter in all of baseball returns today they’ll have even more firepower. Even with that game off, J-Rod leads the league in hits over the past week. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change