Ivan Nova has reaped a small return for White Sox bettors despite his terrible numbers. The righty is a big underdog Thursday night against his former team, the Yankees.
Ivan Nova's numbers are terrible, but he's won White Sox bettors a modest amount money this season since he's often an underdog. The righty (3-5, 6.28 ERA) is back in his familiar role Thursday against his former team to start a four-game set, with the Yankees having lost six of nine following a 32-10 stretch. Chicago, which has won seven of nine at home and three of four overall, is +155 on most Las Vegas oddboards for [the 7:10 p.m. CT game](https://www.betchicago.com/mlb-betting/coverage/6bdd299d-9aad-4555-b803-f048a235db8b) at Guaranteed Rate Field, which can be seen locally on NBC Sports Chicago. AL East-leading New York (41-25), which hasn't won a series since May 31-June 2 against the Red Sox, is the -170 favorite. The total is 9.5 at some sportsbooks, while UNDER bettors can find 10 at other shops. The White Sox ([32-34](https://www.betchicago.com/mlb-betting/standings), 18-15 home) are only 3.5 games back of the Rangers for [the American League's second wild card](https://www.mlb.com/standings/wild-card/2019-06-12). The 32-year-old Nova played his first six-and-a-half seasons for the Yankees before he was traded to the Pirates at the 2016 trade deadline. This season, his WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) is a lofty 1.62, and he's allowing a league-high 97 hits in 71 2/3 innings. Chicago is 5-8 when he pitches, but if you wagered $100 on each of those starts, you'd be up $13, [according to Covers](https://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/mlb/statistics/2019/startermoneystatistics_mlb_regular.html). His opponent Thursday is lefty J.A. Happ (6-3, 4.48), who's earned $100 bettors $419 this season, 23rd best in the league entering play Thursday. Happ's been profitable at the betting window despite allowing two home runs per nine innings, well above his 1.2 career rate, and a 5.19 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), which suggests his already-inflated ERA [should be even worse](https://www.betchicago.com/mlb-advanced-stats-glossary-sports-betting). New York is 10-3 in his starts. Happ has allowed 16 home runs in 70 1/3 innings, including seven in his last five starts (27 innings), but Eric Sogard's blast last Thursday in Toronto was the only run he allowed in seven innings of a 6-2 New York win. Extra rest actually hasn't been good for the Peru, Ill., native and Northwestern alum in his career, as he has a 4.20 ERA when getting five or more days between starts as opposed to a career ERA of 3.92. White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson -- as he is wont to do to lefthanded pitching (though not as much this season) -- has tattooed Happ in his career, going 7-for-13 (.538) with a triple and homer off him. Chicago's rookie phenom, Eloy Jimenez, has homered in three of the last four games, including this absolute bomb in Tuesday's 7-5 win over the Nats. The 22-year-old has nine home runs, but that was his first at home. __MORE:__ [Sportsbooks have adjusted Cubs odds to win title after Craig Kimbrel signing](https://www.betchicago.com/cubs-world-series-odds-craig-kimbrel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Starting9/status/1138620898225901569" class="embedly-card" data-card-width="100%" data-card-controls="0">Embedded content: https://twitter.com/Starting9/status/1138620898225901569</a> The Yankees are coming off a doubleheader split Tuesday with the Mets, winning Game 1 12-5 and losing Game 2 10-4. They've had four straight games go OVER the total. The White Sox took two of three at Yankee Stadium from April 12-14, both as big underdogs. The loss in that series was Nova's start, though he allowed only one run in six innings of the 4-0 defeat, granting only five baserunners. __MORE:__ [Phillies odds to win World Series lengthen after Andrew McCutchen injury](https://www.betchicago.com/phillies-world-series-odds-andrew-mccutchen-injury) ## MLB odds for Thursday, June 13 The Cubs (38-29, 14-18 away), who've [lost three straight road series](https://twitter.com/betchicago1/status/1138952872811307009), start a four-game set against NL West-leading Dodgers (45-23, league-best 25-7 home) as +165 underdogs. Veteran lefties Jon Lester (5-4, 3.56) and Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 3.00) match up for the 9:10 p.m. CT start, which can be seen locally on NBC Sports Chicago Plus and nationally on MLB Network. Los Angeles had won 17 straight games Kershaw started (eight last season, nine this season) before a 2-1 loss Friday in San Francisco, the 31-year-old's first loss since July 21. It'll be a rematch of the 2016 (won by the Cubs) and 2017 (won by the Dodgers) NLCS. Chicago could be [without the services of reliever Steve Cishek](https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-steve-cishek-leg-injury-20190612-story.html), who was carted off after being hit in the shin with a ball during Wednesday's pregame warmups. The Pirates (+134) visit the Braves (-144) just after 11 a.m. CT, and the Mariners (+155) play at Twins (-170) just after noon, and both can be seen regionally on MLB Network. To view the rest of the Thursday MLB schedule, including pitching matchups, odds and totals, [visit our scoreboard page](https://www.betchicago.com/mlb-betting/scores). Check out our [MLB odds page](https://www.betchicago.com/mlb-betting/odds) to compare betting lines from different books, and [here is our standings page](https://www.betchicago.com/mlb-betting/standings). __ALSO:__ [Lucas Giolito goes from AL Cy Young longshot to near favorite](https://www.betchicago.com/white-sox-righty-lucas-giolito-american-league-cy-young-longshot-to-near-favorite) __MORE:__ [Our complete MLB betting coverage](https://www.betchicago.com/mlb-betting/home)