Zach Thompson gives you a preview, prediction and pick for tonight’s game between the Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals.
The White Sox and Royals meet in Kansas City as the two AL Central rivals go head-to-head during Players’ Weekend. Kansas City swept a four-game series against Chicago earlier this season, by a combined score of 19-4. The White Sox have been playing better lately, however, and will look to prove that this weekend. Aaron Civale will start the series opener tonight for Chicago, while Kansas City counters with rookie Noah Cameron. It should be a fun matchup, so let’s take a look at what to expect in this divisional clash.
The Royals returned to .500 with back-to-back wins against the Nationals, but lost on Wednesday to drop back to 60-61. The White Sox start the series 44-77, 16 games behind the Royals in the AL Central. Chicago has the worst record in the American League, while the Royals are still on the edge of the playoff hunt, just four games back of the Yankees for the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
The Royals are -180 home favorites, and the run total is nine. The weather looks strong for offense, with hot, humid conditions and the wind blowing out to left at 10 miles per hour. Let’s preview this Friday night matchup with the help of some odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.
White Sox vs. Royals prediction, preview
The Royals’ starters have dealt with injuries this season, but that’s opened the door for Cameron. He’s established himself as one of the team’s top starting pitchers at just 26 years old. He is 6-5 in 16 starts with a 2.52 ERA, 3.67 FIP and a 1.03 WHIP.
Cameron has allowed two or fewer runs in five of his seven starts since the start of July. He spun 5 2/3 shutout innings in Minnesota and also silenced the Guardians in his last home start.
The White Sox haven’t faced Cameron, and they’ve been slightly below league average against lefties this season. Chicago showed some positive signs coming out of the All-Star break. It scored the fourth-most runs in the majors over the last month, but it cooled off with just 22 runs in its six games over the last week, with a .219 batting average.
They scored six and nine runs in their two wins on their recent homestand, but only totaled two runs in their last three losses. On Wednesday, they had just two hits against the Tigers in a 1-0 loss.
Cameron will look to continue their struggles on Friday, as he goes head-to-head with Civale. The Guardians shelled Civale in his last start, giving up nine runs in 3 1/3 innings. He was rolling before that without an earned run in his previous three outings.
All season, he has been very volatile, with several strong stretches but also a few starts where he gets crushed. He’s generally been better on the road, so Civale could have a solid outing. Still, he’s been very hard to predict.
The Royals’ offense has been improving in the second half after scuffling early. They usually do a very good job at strikeout suppression, and have also been hitting more homers lately. Bobby Witt Jr. is a reliable producer on a daily basis with Salvador Perez, Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino also stepping up for a solid heart of the order.
I highlighted Pasquantino in my top home run props of the day, and it seems like he’s starting to find his groove at the plate. (He also has a clutch Players’ Weekend Custom Bat that you need to check out in that post.) Mike Yastrzemski is another lefty who has stepped up lately and rookie sensation Jac Caglianone could be back at some point this weekend after rehabbing his hamstring injury that landed him on the injured list.
White Sox vs. Royals pick, best bet
Best Bet: Kansas City Royals -1.5 (+113)
With Cameron’s recent success and the White Sox‘s struggles, I don’t think they’ll get many runs even in the favorable conditions. Civale has pitched to too much contact to be confident in him this year, and the Royals’ lineup has picked up the pace enough to expect them to win by more than one run on Friday. They are still pushing for the playoffs and on Players’ Weekend, the fans should be out to support their team.
Strong Lean: Noah Cameron over 17.5 outs recorded (+110)
I didn’t include Cameron in my starting pitcher prop bets for the day because of the weather concerns, but I do expect a strong outing. His hits and runs props are all short odds, but I do like his outs recorded line at plus money. He’s averaged 5.8 innings per start this year and gone over this line in four of his last six games.
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