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The Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros wrap up their opening series of the 2023 MLB season on Sunday afternoon at 2:10 p.m. ET at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Astros have won two in a row after dropping the opener to lead the series 2-1. A win would push Houston to 3-1 on the season. Here we’ll go over the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook and make some picks.
White Sox-Astros picks: Sunday, April 2
Injury report
White Sox
N/A
Astros
Ryan Pressly (illness), Jose Altuve (thumb)
Starting pitchers
Mike Clevinger vs. Luis Garcia
Clevinger missed all of 2021 and spent last season with the San Diego Padres, going 7-7 with a 4.33 ERA over 23 games. Clevinger didn’t face the Astros last season but that’s probably for the best. His overall numbers against Houston in his career aren’t all that bad, going 1-3 with a 3.98 ERA over 20.1 innings.
Garcia was one of the key rotation pieces that helped the Astros win the World Series last season. He went 15-8 with a 3.72 ERA with almost around a strikeout per inning at 157 over 157.1 innings. Garcia lines up fourth in the rotation ahead of rookie Hunter Brown, which is a testament to Houston’s depth at starter.
Over/Under pick
The White Sox bullpen has been stretched out this series after allowing six runs in each of the past two losses. That bullpen will likely need to work at least 4-5 innings on Sunday depending on how well Clevinger fares. Garcia should do a good job limiting runs but also may not work too long into this game so early in the season. The ChiSox bullpen has allowed 8 runs over the past three games. If the Astros bats can get to Clevinger and the bullpen, this game could see a lot of runs.
Pick: Over 8 runs
Moneyline pick
This feels like game the Astros will clean up and take the series 3-1. Garcia is a far better pitcher than Clevinger and the Astros bullpen should do less work while overall limiting damage. Alex Bregman has yet to have a hit in the 2023 season, so he’s a player to watch on Sunday. If Bregman can get it going, the rest of the Astros are already doing plenty of hitting. Houston has won the past two games by at least two runs, so we’ll roll with that trend rather than take a worse number on the ML.
Pick: Astros -1.5 (+130)