Chicago White Sox lead American League Central but face a red-hot Boston Red Sox team Tuesday

With the trade deadline passing Monday, we are officially on playoff watch for teams. Every game from here on will take on a bit more intensity and importance. We know a few teams have dropped out of the race after the trades that took place. Others bolstered their roster, and we have two of them that are going all in, taking each other on today as the White Sox face the Red Sox.

It is the start of August, and the Chicago White Sox are leading the American League Central. Now, before you put a reservation down for some playoff tickets, keep in mind that the Tigers were leading the division to start August last year, and they were heavy favorites to win it. The problem is that the Guardians were lurking, had a spectacular September, and took down the AL Central. The Tigers still made the postseason, but it feels like we will get two Wild Card teams from the American League East, so the safest path for the White Sox is to win the division.

They did add to the team at the trade deadline, and that should instill a bit more confidence in the roster. Their rotation will now have a couple of dependable guys. Davis Martin is one of those guys, but he is approaching the most innings he's pitched in a year. He is 9-5 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He struggled in July after a mixed bag of results in June, so you do need to wonder if his success is fading. The White Sox went 1-4 in his starts in July, and he allowed 16 earned runs in 24 innings. One of those games was against the Red Sox where he allowed five earned runs in four innings.

RED SOX COME BACK FROM THE DEAD, MOVE INTO POSTSEASON CONTENTION WITH REMARKABLE 14-GAME WIN STREAK

The Boston Red Sox made arguably the most shocking move of the trade deadline, by acquiring Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles. The Red Sox were 32-46 on June 24. Since that point, they've gone 28-5. They have had three separate five-game or more winning streaks in that stretch, including one they are on right now. They just swept the Dodgers, arguably the best team in baseball. Can this level of winning be sustained for two more months? Unlikely, but it is impressive nonetheless.

Tuesday they send Patrick Sandoval to the hill in hopes of making it six games in a row. For the year, Sandoval only has four starts under his belt and carries a 3.32 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. None of his starts have been ugly or bad by any means. He did allow four earned runs against the Rays, but the other three saw him allow two or fewer. He faced the White Sox in the first start of his season and went 4.1 innings and allowed just one earned run on five hits.

It is hard to pick against the Red Sox with how hot as they've been. I have faded them in a couple of spots, but it didn't work out. The additions from the deadline should rejuvenate both of these teams as well. I think we should take the hotter team today, and I think we also need to start fading Martin. He will probably still have some good starts left, but he has struggled lately. He also didn't have a great June. His arm might just be getting tired. I'll take Sandoval and the Red Sox on the moneyline tonight.

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