Interleague action producing crazy MLB betting totals trend
By Jason Logan
Covers.com
Interleague baseball has lost some of its shine in recent years, thanks to the MLB schedule randomly sprinkling in American League vs. National League contests throughout the season.
It used to be, the schedule makers would designate certain weeks of the season to interleague and interleague alone, giving baseball bettors something different to look forward to in the middle of the marathon major league season. Now, interleague play is as common as peanuts and crackerjack at the ballpark.
But for those still tracking the individual numbers and trends coming out of these AL-versus-NL battles, a stunning Over/Under development has manifested itself through the first month and a bit of the schedule.
Heading into Monday’s MLB slate – which features two interleague tilts (Detroit at Washington and Toronto at San Francisco) – the Over is 24-14-5 when the Junior and Senior Circuits collide, topping the total 65 percent of the time.
This hasn’t always been the case. Looking back over the past five MLB seasons (2011 to 2015), interleague action finished with a 706-790-67 Over/Under record with 9.09 combined runs scored versus an average betting total of 8.17. And those totals have taken a sharp drop in the past three seasons, moving from 8.61 in 2011 to 8.51 in 2012, 8.27 in 2013, 7.75 in 2014 and 2015, and just under 8.0 this season.
The biggest producers of this current Over trend have been National League clubs at home versus American League foes, a situation that has manufactured a 12-5-3 Over/Under record – 70.5 percent - so far this season. There have been an average of 9.19 combined runs scored against an average total of 7.66 in those contests, compared to the major league season scoring average of 8.5 runs.
More than a few National League teams have been Over gold mines during interleague play. The Milwaukee Brewers stand at 7-1-2 O/U versus AL opposition, while the Pittsburgh Pirates (4-0-0 O/U) and Washington Nationals (4-2 O/U) have also leaned toward high-scoring interleague finishes.
In the American League, the Detroit Tigers are 6-0-0 Over/Under, joined by the Minnesota Twins (5-1-1 O/U) and Los Angeles Angels (3-1-1 O/U) when taking on the National League.