NL Teams Look For Runs
By SPORTSBETTING.COM
If you're a "due factor" bettor, you might be smiling this week after National League won the 2010 Midsummer Classic for the first time in over a decade. "Over" bettors might not be so happy, as the game featured some impressive pitching.
Online sportsbooks had the Total set at 8.5 to 9 across the board by gametime, with several reporting 60% to 70% of the Over/Under action coming in on the "Over". It really didn't get close, as the final was 3-1.
That win means the National League finally won home-field for this year's Fall Classic. But will the NL come away with the World Series in 2010?
Despite the dominance of the AL in past All-Star games, the results have been close to even when it comes to World Series titles with the Junior Circuit taking six of them since 2000 and the Senior Circuit taking four - the Philadelphia Phillies were the last team from the NL to win the World Series, back in 2008.
You know the Atlanta Braves (NL East), the Cincinnati Reds (NL Central) and the San Diego Padres (NL West), all division leaders, were hoping for an NL All-Star win to claim home-field.
Of the three current division leaders, the Braves have the biggest lead, with a four-game cushion on the New York Mets.
Sportsbooks currently have Atlanta listed at -175 to take the division, +300 to take the NL pennant and +900 to take the World Series.
Looking over the Braves' second-half schedule, they play 13 series against teams from within their own division.
The Atlanta Braves have done well in their last 20 overall against teams from within the NL East, going 14-6 straight up and in their last eight such games, there have been only 2 Overs and 6 Unders.
It looks like the Braves will have to fight off both the Mets and the Phillies in order to win the division and take a run at the World Series.
While the Braves are 13-7 SU in their last 20 overall against the Metropolitans, they are only 3-5 SU in their last eight and the last 10 meetings between the two have all gone Under.
Against the Phillies, the Braves were on a 4-8 SU slide but things have picked up lately and they are 6-2 SU in their last eight against Philadelphia.
The Reds currently hold a one-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central and Cincy is -110 to take the division, +800 to win the pennant and +2500 to win the World Series, something they haven't done since 1990.
Cincinnati's road to a division title and the postseason, based on the current standings, looks to run through St. Louis.
However, the Reds only have six more games against the Cards (three at home and three on the road) and Cincinnati has struggled against the Cardinals in St. Louis, going 6-14 SU in their last 20 at Busch Stadium.
The L.A. Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies are tied for the NL Wild Card spot currently and they are also both two games back of division-leading San Diego.
The Padres are +1500 to win the World Series, +800 to take the NL pennant and the odds-on to win the NL West at -300.
If it goes down to the wire with the Rockies however, Colorado could have the upper hand.
In the San Diego Padres' last 10 overall against the Rockies, they are only 3-7 SU with seven of their last nine going Over.
While the Padres are only 5-5 SU in their last 10 overall against the Dodgers, there have been 2 Overs and 8 Unders.
The NL ended an All-Star game losing streak to the AL in this year's All-Star game taking homefield for the World Series.
But home-field advantage won't mean a thing if the NL teams don't win the World Series.