Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago White Sox Prediction, Picks and Preview – June 18, 2015

The Pittsburgh Pirates (38-27) are on cruise control as of late, as they’ve won all of their last seven games. That includes a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night. While that win extended the Bucs’ win streak, it prolonged the agony of the White Sox, who are winless through six outings. Will the Pirates add more to Chicago’s woes? Or will the White Sox stop their maddening skid?

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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago White Sox Preview

Where: U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

When: Thursday, June 18, 2015, 8:10 PM ET

Line:  Pittsburgh Pirates (-135) vs. Chicago White Sox (+125); total: 7.5 – view all MLB lines
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Betting on the Pittsburgh Pirates

[sc:MLB240banner ]League leader in wins and in ERA Gerrit Cole (10-2, 1.71 ERA) gets the call tonight, as he looks to remain undefeated thus far this month. Cole allowed just one run on five hits over six innings of work on in the Bucs’ 10-2 win on Saturday. A performance like that is typical for Cole these days. He’s 5-0 with a ridiculous ERA of 1.00 over his last five starts, and pitched two shutout games in two of his previous three outings. With Cole setting the tone for the Pirates’ rotation, Pittsburgh managed to become the current No. 1 in the majors this month in ERA (1.74) and WHIP (1.00).

Not to be overlooked, though, are the Pirates’ relievers, who are third overall in the majors in ERA (2.57). Runs are hard to come by for Pirates’ opponents in the last three innings of a game (7-9), as Pittsburgh are allowing just an average of 0.95 runs during those frames.

Working behind Cole later tonight are the likes of Starling Marte, Josh Harrison, Jung Ho Kang, and Andrew McCutchen, all of whom have hit .278 or better over the Pirates’ last six games. Marte is 6-for-21 (.286) with two walks in his career against Jeff Samardzija, while McCutchen is 12-for-29 (.414), including five doubles in the same matchup.

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Betting on the Chicago White Sox

The South Side experience hasn’t been too good for Jeff Samardzija (4-4, 4.84 ERA), who failed to collect a win in any of this past five starts. The futility continued for The Shark on Saturday, when the White Sox lost to Tampa Bay, 5-4. That being said his performance against the Rays was an encouraging sign for Samardzija moving forward.

After two consecutive starts wherein he allowed nine runs, Samardzija pitched a lot better at Tropicana Field. In that game, he surrendered just three earned runs on six hits with seven punchouts in seven frames. And with the way White Sox hitters have been swinging their bats of late, it looks like Samardzija will have to come up with a gem against the Pirates. The White Sox are worst in the majors this month in both batting average (.208) and on-base percentage (.262).

Jose Abreu is one of the few White Sox players who are making things happen at the plate of late. He is 14-for-49 (.286) with 4 homers and 11 RBIs so far this month. Adam Eaton, on the other hand, is 6-for-18 (.333) in his last six games.

Samardzija owns a 4-4 record with a solid 2.22 ERA in nine career starts against Pittsburgh. The under is 3-1 in his last four home starts.

Writer’s Prediction

Pittsburgh (-140) wins, 4-2.
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