Major League Baseball

White Sox's big win over Yankees second-biggest betting upset of MLB season

Updated Aug. 13, 2024 11:57 a.m. ET

The Chicago White Sox entered Monday's game against the New York Yankees with the worst record in baseball and losers of 24 of their last 25 games. With the team playing abysmal baseball this season, it's safe to say, not a lot of people have been betting on them daily.

But, that all changed on Monday.

Chicago's big 12-2 win over New York was one of the largest betting upsets of the season.

In terms of the money line, it was the second-largest upset of the year, as the Yankees came into the game at -360 to win.

The only larger upset this season was the Washington Nationals' 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 15, who held -432 odds to win that game (via the Action Network).

When you look at how dominant the White Sox were though in Monday's game, it's one of the more impactful upsets in recent MLB history, at least in betting terms.

The Yankees are the first team to hold at least -350 odds on the money line to lose a game by at least 10 runs since 2017 (per Bleacher Report Betting).

Chicago's win on Monday seemingly came out of nowhere. The 29-91 White Sox hold the worst record in MLB by 15 games, while the Yankees entered Monday's game tied for the best record in the majors. Chicago had also recently gone on a 21-game losing streak, tying the American League record for the longest losing streak before snapping it last week.

Many bettors also thought New York would walk away with an easy win, too. The Yankees were the most bet on team by handle and tickets on the run line (-1.5) and moneyline out of all the games in MLB at DraftKings Sportsbook on Monday (according to the Action Network).

Aaron Judge was also the most-bet on player in MLB games on Monday to hit a home run (+160), to record a hit (-265) and to have at least one RBI (-115).

As a result of the streak, the White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol last Thursday. Interim manager Grady Sizemore picked up his first win on Monday, his third game as manager, as Chicago set a season-high for runs and hits (18).

"I just couldn't be happier for the guys," said Sizemore, wearing a wide grin and a soaked shirt after being doused by some concoction of liquids and shaving cream. "Just what a great win. A great game played all around, all sides of the ball. So proud of them."

Gavin Sheets matched a career-high with four hits and drove in four runs. Korey Lee and Brooks Baldwin homered in the win.

Lee connected leading off a two-run fourth against Yankees starter Luis Gil. Baldwin capped a six-run seventh with a three-run drive against Enyel De Los Santos that made it 11-2.

Yankees vs. White Sox Highlights

Sheets hit RBI doubles in a two-run first, in the fifth against Tim Hill and in the seventh off De Los Santos. He also scored in the inning on a single by Dominic Fletcher, and singled in a run in the eighth.

Andrew Vaughn had four hits and scored twice, helping the White Sox take out a team that came in tied with Baltimore for baseball's best record.

Judge doubled in a run in the first against rookie Ky Bush. He came a few feet short of his 300th home run and a grand slam when he hit a fly to the warning track in the second. But the Yankees were 2 for 18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 16.

"Yeah, they're one of the worst teams, if you want to put it that way, but these guys are still big leaguers," said Alex Verdugo, who scored a run. "They can still have days where they're clicking. We saw it today, a lot of their guys 3 for 4, 3 for 4. These guys can still have good days. We've got to just do a better job of coming out and cashing in those runs that we had on base, kind of step on them early."

Bush allowed two runs and six hits over 4 2/3 innings in his second major league start. The 24-year-old left-hander walked seven and threw 97 pitches, after losing at Oakland last week in his debut.

Touki Toussaint (1-2) got the win in relief, recording four outs.

Gil (12-6) threw 98 pitches in four innings, allowing four runs and seven hits. The 26-year-old right-hander walked two.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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