Run the Bases – Tuesday, Aug. 31

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 31st Aug 2010, 

Written by BetRepublic

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Hit the split yesterday with our two plays on the Cardinals and White Sox. We started the week discussing teams that needed to make something happen if they were going to stay in the postseason mix, and what did we see?

Chicago scored two runs in the top of the first, added three more in the second and carried a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Sure, the Sox shaky, overworked bullpen was tagged for three in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings. But what does Ozzie get his crew to do? Score four more!

It’s the kind of fight you want to see from that’s four games out of first with 31 games to play. Meanwhile St. Louis, up against what is essentially a minor league team in Houston, makes just two hits in a 3-0 shutout loss. Cincinnati beats Milwaukee and steps to a 6-game lead in the NL Central.

It says a lot of which of those two teams is serious and even with the Cards (-140) sending Chris Carpenter (14-4, 2.93 ERA), we’re not going to go chasing after that team until it shows a spark; especially at that price.

Chicago White Sox (-131) at Cleveland Indians
(R) Edwin Jackson (2-0, 0.96) vs. (R) Justin Masterson (5-12, 5.23 ERA)

The Man-Ram era begins with Chicago today against the team that originally drafted him and if Chicago had a swagger in its step before, it just got beefier. Manny Ramirez has been on the DL three times this season but he’s excited to join the team, the Sox are happy to have him and by using Ramirez as the DH he’s not going to hurt anyone with his fielding.

Masterson had it easy last week against an Oakland team that plays far better ball at home than it does away, but today he’s got nowhere to hide against a Sox team that’s scored seven-plus runs in six of its past nine games.

Chicago’s win yesterday improved them to 5-8 against Cleveland this year and 3-4 at Progressive Field.
BetRepublic.com Pick: Take the White Sox