The Daily Sweat: Can the American League make it 9 straight in the MLB All-Star Game?
This three-day span is tough for every sports bettor.
With the Major League Baseball season at the break and football still weeks away, the sports calendar is virtually empty other than the festivities that surround the All-Star Game. On Monday night was the Home Run Derby, which was won by Juan Soto in exciting fashion.
And on Tuesday night is the MLB All-Star Game itself as the stars of the National League and American League meet in Los Angeles. The NL is the home team and is a slight favorite at BetMGM at -115 on the moneyline. The AL, meanwhile, is -105 on the moneyline. On the run line, the NL is -1.5 with +165 odds with the AL at +1.5 (-200).
The total is listed at eight runs. The juice is slanted toward the under at -125 while the over has +105 odds.
The American League has dominated the All-Star Game in recent years, winning eight straight and 20 of the last 24 editions of the midsummer classic. Included in that eight-game winning streak for the AL are six victories in NL ballparks. A win on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium would add another to that list.
Five of the last seven All-Star Games have been decided by two runs or fewer.
Both rosters are dominated by power hitters. The AL has New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who leads the majors with 33 homers. Judge is in the two-hole for the AL behind Shohei Ohtani (19 HRs) and ahead of Rafael Devers (22 HRs), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (20 HRs), and Giancarlo Stanton (24 HRs) in the lineup.
The NL has Mookie Betts (20 HRs), Paul Goldschmidt (20 HRs) and Trea Turner (.306, 68 RBI) in the starting lineup and also can bring Kyle Schwarber (29 HRs), Austin Riley (27 HRs) and Pete Alonso (24 HRs) off the bench.
On the mound, the AL is starting Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays, who leads baseball with a sparkling 1.71 ERA. On the other side is Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw. The future Hall of Famer has an MVP, three Cy Youngs, five ERA titles and a World Series ring, but this is his first time starting in the All-Star Game.
Kershaw is not quite as dominant as he was earlier in his career, but the 34-year-old is having a stellar season. The lefty is 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA in 71.2 innings pitched. In his most recent outing, Kershaw had a perfect game into the eighth inning.
What else is there to bet on?
As previously mentioned, it’s a betting wasteland out there aside from the All-Star Game. You’ll have to look internationally toward sports like soccer and tennis if you’re looking for other action.
It’s also a good time to look ahead to the second half of the baseball season and reassess the favorites for World Series, MVP and plenty of other futures like divisional winners and various individual awards.
You can also dive in on football futures in both the NFL and at the college level.
What’s the best bet?
I’ll side with recent history and take the American League at -105 and the under eight runs.
There have been eight or fewer runs scored in 12 of the last 15 MLB All-Star Games.
