- Houston is a -144 favorite in Game 2, with Chicago at +122 and the total set at 7.5 runs.
- The White Sox went from +125 to -245 to win the series after beating Houston 6-3 in Game 1.
- Hunter Brown went 2-0 against Chicago this year with a 1.38 ERA, and Sean Burke holds a 1.54 ERA against Houston.
- Grant Taylor needed 54 pitches, the most of his big-league career, to save Game 1, and his availability for Wednesday is unresolved.
HOUSTON – Sean Burke starts Game 2 for the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday holding a chance to close out the Houston Astros, and the White Sox-Astros Game 2 odds still price Houston as a -144 favorite behind Hunter Brown. Chicago leads the best-of-three 1-0 ahead of a 5 p.m. ET first pitch in Houston on Peacock.
Game 1 Sets The Series Price
Rookie Hagen Smith opened the series with three scoreless innings, and Chicago finished off a 6-3 win. Houston opened the series a -145 favorite to advance, with Chicago at +125 odds.
The flip to White Sox -245 and Astros +195 on legal MLB betting sites means Houston’s number now pays for winning two straight, with all three games at Daikin Park.
An 81-81 Houston club claimed the AL West while allowing 32 more runs than it scored; the 84-78 White Sox scored 56 more runs than they allowed. That gap is why the -144 rests on Brown, who lifts Houston from -123 in Game 1’s bullpen matchup, rather than on the team behind him.
| Market | Odds |
|---|---|
| Astros moneyline | -144 |
| White Sox moneyline | +122 |
| Astros -1.5 | +157 |
| White Sox +1.5 | -191 |
| Over 7.5 | -110 |
| Under 7.5 | -110 |
| Astros to win series | +195 |
| White Sox to win series | -245 |
Brown Against Burke
A 3.19 ERA and 124 strikeouts across 107.1 innings closed out Brown’s 6-4 year, and Baseball Savant has hitters at a .282 expected wOBA against him, well under the .320 league average. The leak is walks, 55 of them, or 12.2 percent of batters faced against a norm near 8.5 percent. He has not gone past 5.1 innings in his last three starts, so Houston’s bullpen, which posted a 4.08 ERA, covers the sixth inning on.
Burke went 11-7 across 172.1 innings with a 3.34 ERA, and his 185 strikeouts came at a 25.8 percent clip against a 22 percent norm. His .300 expected wOBA against nearly matches the .298 hitters produced, so the ERA is earned. He has won his last three outings, allowing three runs (two earned) over 16.1 innings, and Houston has five hits in 11.2 innings against him this year.
Total, Run Line And The Bullpens
The legal sports betting total of 7.5 sits half a run under Game 1’s 8-run total, which the teams beat with nine runs. Across four starts this season against each other’s teams, Brown and Burke combined to allow five runs in 24.2 innings, the case for the under. The counter is that both starters hand off around the sixth.
Chicago’s bullpen has the better ERA at 3.70 but blew 30 saves to Houston’s 14. Grant Taylor said “ideally, tomorrow” about pitching again after his seven-out, 54-pitch save, and manager Will Venable has not said whether he will be available. Without Taylor, the late innings of any Chicago lead become the Over’s best path.
On the run line, Chicago +1.5 at -191 must cash about 66 percent of the time to break even, and the low-scoring games Brown and Burke have produced are the ones that finish within a run. Houston -1.5 at +157 needs a two-run win and has to hit only about 39 percent.
If Houston extends the series, Game 3 is Thursday at Daikin Park, and the winner meets the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series.
