Chicago White Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays: MLB Playoffs Betting Odds & Picks

Tampa Bay Rays (115) - Monday October 6th ‘08 5:05p
Gavin Floyd had a great breakout season for the Chicago White Sox, but he appeared to break down late in the year before turning in a nice effort in his last start, and Andy Sonnanstine has had success vs. the White Sox this year. Floyd had just one Quality Start in five starts before his clutch outing vs. the Tigers in the make-up game the day after the regular season was supposed to end, when he allowed just one earned run in six innings. Keep in mind however that the Tigers were not exactly enthused about playing that contest, as the last thing they wanted to do was extend a very disappointing season by one extra day. Thus, Floyd may have been given a false sense of security coming in to this start, and even with that fine outing, he still has a high 5.00 ERA with a terrible 1.50 WHIP over his last three outings. Conversely, Sonnanstine has a nice 3.44 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in his last three starts, and although it is not always pretty, he does almost always give the Rays a chance to win, as they are 20-12 in all of his starts this year. He has enjoyed pitching against the White Sox too, allowing three earned runs or less in three of his four starts against them since last season including a Complete Game three-hit shutout this year. Finally, the Rays have the far superior bullpen, ranking second in the American League during the regular year with a 3.45 pen ERA, and we look for Sonnanstine and that great pen to bring the White Sox season to an end here. MLB Free Pick: Rays +115