The White Sox are still in pursuit of their first victory of the 2015 season, but they are a big favorite here this afternoon against the Minnesota Twins. I wouldn't be to quick to back the home team though, given the fact that their starting pitcher is coming off a pretty lousy performance. The best bet here appears to be on the total, as we have two struggling pitchers in a hitter's park.

Jeff Samardzija will toe the slab for the Sox, and he was hammered on Opening Day in a loss to the Royals. The big left-hander surrendered five runs on six hits and three walks over six innings of a 10-1 defeat. Given his record of 1-3 with an 8.44 ERA this spring, it's hard to be too confident about Samardzija early in the season.

The Twins hand the ball to Mike Pelfrey, who has been clobbered in his limited experience in the Majors. Pelfrey was 0-3 with a 7.99 ERA in five starts last season, and he owns a career ERA of 4.56. A quick glance at his spring stats might look promising, as he posted an ERA of 1.15 through 15 2/3 innings. Dig a little deeper and you see that he surrendered 17 hits and a pair of walks in those games, and must have been very fortunate to get out of a few jams.

Adam Laroche comes into this game really struggling at the plate, but he should be glad to see Pelfrey. He's 9-for-13 (.692) with six RBIs lifetime versus the right-hander.

Take OVER.

GL,

Jesse Schule