White Sox vs. Cubs Prediction, MLB Picks for Tuesday, August 18

First pitch for the Chicago White Sox vs. Chicago Cubs game is set for 8:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday, August 18, with the Cubs entering as home favorites and returning a 1.56x payout if they win, via PrizePicks.

Today’s outing is game two of the second and final three-game series between these cross-town rivals. The White Sox won the first series 2-1, but the Cubs secured a thriller in game one of this set, 7-5. Which Chicago squad will send a statement with a victory tonight?

Below, we'll break down our White Sox vs. Cubs prediction and picks for Tuesday’s MLB game, including the spread, over/under, and key player picks for PrizePicks.

Make your White Sox vs. Cubs picks and predictions on PrizePicks ahead of tonight's game.

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White Sox vs. Cubs, Winner Payout, Over/Under – Tuesday, August 18

Despite last night’s tough loss, the White Sox remain the surprise story of the 2026 MLB season. A team many had projected to be in the dumpster this year has gone on to hold a 65-59 record and a 4.5-game lead over the Detroit Tigers for the lead in the AL Central.

They'll start an opener tonight in RP Bryan Hudson (3.95 xFIP), but it is assumed that SP Erick Fedde (4.83 xFIP) will assume the bulk of innings before passing it off to the rest of the bullpen. Fedde last pitched in a bulk outing five days ago against the Cincinnati Reds, where he threw 51 pitches and gave up 4 earned runs on 5 hits. 

The Chicago Cubs refuse to let the Milwaukee Brewers out of their sights for the lead in the NL Central. They are currently 73-53 and sit just 4.5 games back of the Brew Crew. They currently have seven games remaining against Milwaukee, so the division could certainly come down to the last few days of the regular season.

The Cubs will send trade deadline acquisition SP Kevin Gausman (3.81 xFIP) to the mound and will hope that he doesn’t have a repeat of his last outing, a 6-earned run clunker against the Washington Nationals.

Gausman’s xFIP sits 0.72 runs below his ERA (4.53), suggesting he could be due for some positive regression, especially if his .310 BABIP regresses to the league average of .288.

White Sox vs. Cubs Winner Payout, Over/Under – Tuesday, August 18

The Cubs enter Tuesday’s game as home favorites against the White Sox, returning a 1.56x payout if they win outright, via PrizePicks Team Picks.

Here are the full payouts for the White Sox vs. Cubs game on PrizePicks.

Play the White Sox vs. Cubs spread or over/under on PrizePicks Team Picks to earn real money — available in 36 states!

Team Picks data is live at the time of writing and is subject to change.

White Sox vs. Cubs Prediction on Winner – 8/18/26

Here are the key game stats and trends behind our White Sox vs. Cubs prediction on the winner for Tuesday, August 18.

Lock in your White Sox vs. Cubs prediction on PrizePicks now.

Unless otherwise noted, data used in this article is from Baseball Savant or FanGraphs.

• Having an advantage in at least two of the three facets of the game (offense, starting pitching, and relief pitching) is always a good sign. The Cubs possess the edge in all three tonight.
• Offensively, this Cubs team leads all of baseball with a 112 wRC+, eight spots ahead of the White Sox and their season-long 104 wRC+.
• Gausman and his 3.9 xERA also stand head and shoulders above Fedde and his 4.71 xERA. With this being a Fedde/bullpen game for the White Sox, it just takes one of their arms to slip up and not have it.
• What specifically concerns me about this matchup for Fedde is his 3.28 BB/9 and his 1.81 HR/9. Those are terrifying numbers against a Cubs team that leads baseball in BB% (10.8%) and ranks fourth in ISO (.170).
• If Fedde does struggle and forces the White Sox to turn the game over to their bullpen, it certainly doesn’t help that their pen is ranked 27th in baseball over the last two weeks with a 4.73 xFIP.

White Sox vs. Cubs Picks, Player Stats for PrizePicks: 8/18/26

Here are the top White Sox vs. Cubs picks to target on Tuesday, August 18. Today’s MLB picks for PrizePicks include Munetaka Murakami and Kevin Gausman.

White Sox 1B Munetaka Murakami vs. Cubs: 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI

• As awesome as Murakami has been, this is simply not a good matchup for him against Gausman and his devastating splitter. Gausman throws it 40% of the time; Murakami is 0-for-10 with 6 strikeouts against it this year.
• Murakami owns a -4.41 wSF/C (splitter runs above average per 100 pitches), by far his worst mark against any offering.
• Additionally, Gausman has been a reverse-splits pitcher in terms of power allowed, with a 1.35 HR/9 to RHB but just a 0.91 HR/9 against LHB. This trend dates back to 2023.

Add Munetaka Murakami to your PrizePicks Lineup now.

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Cubs P Kevin Gausman vs. White Sox: 6 Strikeouts

• It’s not just Murakami who has struggled against the splitter; it’s the White Sox as a team. They rank 18th in baseball in wSF/C (-0.20).
• The White Sox offense has been striking out a ton recently with a 25.2% K-rate over the last two weeks, the fourth-highest in the majors.
• Gausman hasn’t been the elite strikeout pitcher he was in the early 2020s, but his 8.95 K/9 is still the highest mark of his last three seasons.
• His 12.3% swinging strike rate is also still above average and indicative of someone who can generate some whiffs.

Add Kevin Gausman to your PrizePicks Lineup now.

Make White Sox vs. Cubs Picks on PrizePicks

Both of these teams are in heated races for the lead in their respective divisions, which will hopefully create more thrilling matchups like the one we saw last night. Will the White Sox bounce back and even the series at a game apiece, or will the Cubs win the set with a huge win in front of their home crowd?

Don’t wait until lock — make your White Sox vs. Cubs picks on PrizePicks now and earn real money if you’re right.

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