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Two division leaders will clash at Chavez Ravine on Friday night when the Chicago Cubs visit the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a key three-game series.

The Cubs had a day off Thursday and will play the seventh game of their nine-game West Coast road trip as a small -110 betting favorite at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Chicago is 4-2 in the first six games of the trip and will send Mike Montgomery (1-1, 2.77 ERA in the National League) to the mound looking for his second win in his second consecutive start for the team after arriving in a trade from the Seattle Mariners.

Montgomery pitched well in his first start last time out in the second game of the trip against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, allowing one run on one hit before hitting his pitch count.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon limited Montgomery to 60 pitches after he transitioned from the bullpen.

Los Angeles will counter with Bud Norris (6-10, 4.69 ERA), who just pitched twice against the Cincinnati Reds in four days following a rough outing in his first appearance.

Norris surrendered six runs and seven hits in 3.2 innings of a 9-2 loss at Cincinnati with four walks and three strikeouts a week ago before returning to the hill and pitching two-thirds of an inning in an 18-9 rout of the Reds on Monday.

Norris has pitched better at home, though, going 4-4 with a 2.77 ERA at Dodger Stadium, as opposed to 2-6 with a 6.89 ERA on the road, and beat Chicago in a 5-1 home win on June 10 as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

The Cubs have won four of the past five meetings with the Dodgers dating back to last season, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database. However, the under has been the play in this series recently, cashing in 10 of the last 11 games between the teams.

The lone over during that stretch came in the last meeting, with Chicago winning 7-2 at Wrigley Field on June 2. Three of the previous four games saw three runs or fewer scored.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers (69-55) maintained their spot atop the National League West division standings Monday with an 18-9 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds.

On Tuesday, the Dodgers will open a key three-game home series with the San Francisco Giants (68-56) and go for their third straight win, as the division lead will be on the line and both teams are listed at -110 (bet $110 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The Giants will be going for their third consecutive victory in the series after winning the last two games between the teams at home in the middle of June. They are 6-4 in 10 meetings so far this season and will be looking to snap a two-game skid overall with ace Madison Bumgarner (12-7, 2.25 ERA) on the mound.

Bumgarner has won two in a row following a stretch in which he went five starts without a win, going 0-3 with four of them coming on the road. He is 5-4 away from home with a 2.85 ERA, more than a run higher than his ERA at AT&T Park this year, and 0-1 in two outings versus Los Angeles with a 4.09 ERA.

The Dodgers will counter with Kenta Maeda (12-7, 3.29) and have won in each of the past five games he has started. Maeda has earned victories in four of them, allowing two runs four times and walking just three batters while striking out 26 in 28.2 innings.

Maeda has a losing record at home, though, at 4-5 despite a solid 3.33 ERA but beat San Francisco on April 17, giving up one run and four hits in seven innings of a 3-1 win.

Those bettors looking for a totals play in the series opener might want to look at the under, which has cashed in four of the previous five meetings along with eight of 12, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.

There have been five runs or less scored in three of the last four games, including a 3-1 victory for Los Angeles in the most recent one at Chavez Ravine on April 17. The under is also 4-1 in the past five meetings played at Dodger Stadium dating back to last year.

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The San Francisco Giants (66-54) will try to end a four-game losing streak behind ace Madison Bumgarner (11-7, 2.11 ERA) when they host the New York Mets (60-60) on Thursday.

The Giants are listed as -160 betting favorites (bet $160 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark against the Mets, who will lean on ace Jacob deGrom (7-5, 2.30 ERA) to get them back on track.

Bumgarner ended a five-start winless streak last time out against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, pitching seven scoreless innings and allowing just three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in a 6-2 victory.

The 27-year-old southpaw had not earned his previous win since before the MLB All-Star break, even though he gave up two runs or less three times in those five games, getting two runs of support or less four times.

For New York, the chances of a repeat run to the postseason look bleaker with each game, as the team is coming off a 13-5 road loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. The Mets lost two of three at Arizona to fall back down to the .500 mark.

The good news is that they have won in the last three games deGrom has started, along with seven of the past nine. He is 4-1 during that stretch but owns a 2-3 mark away from home with a 2.83 ERA in nine starts and opponents hitting .268 against him.

The lanky righty has already beaten San Francisco once this season, surrendering no earned runs in six innings of a 6-5 home victory back on April 30.

Bumgarner has also defeated the Mets this year, throwing six scoreless frames in a 6-1 road win on May 1 with three walks and seven strikeouts. However, that is only one of two times the Giants have won in the past seven meetings following a 9-1 run in the series dating back to 2014, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.

The over also cashed in the first three meetings between the teams this season in New York after going under in the previous three, all of which took place in San Francisco.

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The Boston Red Sox (65-52) bring a four-game winning streak into the first game of a two-game series with the Baltimore Orioles (66-51) on Tuesday at Camden Yards.

The Orioles lead the Red Sox by one game for second place in the American League East, and they are listed as small -108 favorites (bet $108 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark with veteran Yovani Gallardo (4-4, 5.17 ERA) on the hill.

Baltimore is just 15-15 since the MLB All-Star break and opens a key eight-game homestand with this game against a Boston team that has gone 16-14 during the same stretch.

Gallardo is 1-3 in the second half for the Orioles with two no-decisions, both of which eventually resulted in wins. This will be Gallardo’s first home start since July 25, when he allowed two runs and five hits in 6.2 innings of a 3-2 victory against the Colorado Rockies.

Gallardo was a tough-luck loser last time out on the road against the Oakland Athletics, giving up only one run and four hits in six innings of a 1-0 defeat.

The Red Sox will look to 23-year-old southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez (2-5, 5.43 ERA) to try to get them their fifth win in a row after a fairly solid month. Since getting pounded for nine runs and 11 hits in 2.2 innings of a 13-7 road loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Rodriguez has surrendered three runs or fewer in each of his last six appearances.

Rodriguez’s last victory came on July 16 against the New York Yankees, as he has gone 0-2 with three no-decisions in his past five outings. He pitched great versus the Yankees in his last start on Thursday, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings of an eventual 4-2 loss.

Boston has lost four of the previous five meetings with Baltimore after winning three straight in the series, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database. In the 10 meetings overall this year, the over has a slight edge at 5-4-1.

The Red Sox closed last season with three consecutive shutouts of the Orioles, all of which went under the total.

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The St. Louis Cardinals (60-54) and Chicago Cubs (71-41) are both coming off wins heading into the opener of a key four-game series between the National League Central rivals on Thursday at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs are listed as -170 home favorites (bet $170 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark after getting swept by the Cardinals in a three-game series at Wrigley in late June.

Chicago, the clear NL pennant favorite, is a much different team now compared to then, though, riding a nine-game winning streak into this matchup. The Cubs started a skid of 15 losses in 21 games in that previous series against St. Louis, and they are 18-6 since the All-Star break following a 3-1 victory against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 12 games behind Chicago in the NL Central and dropped three of four prior to defeating the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Wednesday. Their last four wins have all been decided by one run, including three over the Reds.

Three of their past four meetings with the Cubs have also been decided by a margin of just one run, including two of their three victories between June 20 and 22, all as underdogs.

Carlos Martinez (10-7, 3.29 ERA) will toe the rubber for St. Louis, and he has been hit hard in each of his last two starts. He went 0-1 in those two outings after surrendering 11 runs (10 earned) and 14 hits in 12 combined innings of work against the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins, both of which resulted in losses.

Jon Lester (12-4, 2.93) will oppose Martinez, and the Cubs have won each of the previous four games he started. Lester went 3-0 during that stretch, with two of the wins taking place at home.

Lester has been a much better pitcher at Wrigley this season, going 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA. Opposing batters have hit only .194 against him there, which is a stark contrast to last year, when he was 7-9 with a 3.60 ERA at home. Lester’s last three outings have finished over the total along with five of his past six.

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The Boston Red Sox (60-50) will begin a key three-game series against the New York Yankees (56-55) on Tuesday trying to move closer to the lead in the American League East standings.

The Red Sox trail the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays in the division and will send Rick Porcello (14-3, 3.46 ERA) to the hill hoping to bounce back from his first loss in 13 starts and stay perfect at Fenway Park as -175 betting favorites (wager $175 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Porcello went 5-0 in five July starts with a 2.57 ERA, but he gave up three runs and four hits in eight innings of a 3-1 road loss to the Seattle Mariners last Wednesday with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Boston had scored four runs or more in the previous 15 games he started, with the last instance of less than that taking place back on May 6 in a 3-2 loss at New York.

Porcello‘s most recent loss before that setback against the Mariners happened on May 17 versus the Kansas City Royals on the road. Porcello has gone 10-0 in 11 starts at Fenway so far this season with a 3.21 ERA.

The Yankees will counter with Luis Severino (1-6, 6.02 ERA), although he has worked primarily out of the bullpen lately. His last start came against the Chicago White Sox on May 13 and resulted in a 7-1 home loss after he surrendered seven runs and seven hits in 2.2 innings with four walks and two strikeouts.

Severino is 0-3 on the road with a 6.00 ERA.

The Red Sox have won six of the nine meetings played between the teams this year, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database, including all three of the games played at home from April 29 through May 1. New York has split the past six with Boston at Yankee Stadium, with the under cashing five times, including four straight.

The last five meetings have all been decided by two or more runs after the previous two were both one-run games won by the home team.

Betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.

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The Texas Rangers had the best record in the American League prior to the MLB trade deadline on Monday, but they made some key moves to put themselves in prime position to be the American League favorite on the odds to win the World Series.

The Rangers picked up Carlos Beltran from the New York Yankees and Jonathan Lucroy from the Milwaukee Brewers before the deadline passed and moved to +650 (bet $100 to win $650) to win the World Series at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Texas has sat atop the AL West division standings for most of the season and will try to hold off the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians, among others, for the best record in the American League the rest of the way.

While the team’s hitting definitely got a boost with the additions of Beltran and Lucroy, the starting pitching remains a concern due to a shaky rotation that has seen members go on and off the disabled list this year. If Yu Darvish and Colby Lewis are healthy enough come playoff time, they could join Cole Hamels to form one of the AL’s best three-man rotations in the postseason.

The Rangers moved up slightly from +700 odds following their trades, while the San Francisco Giants have dropped from +550 to +650 to tie them as the second choice to win the World Series behind the Chicago Cubs at +350.

The Giants had the National League’s best record heading into the All-Star break but then dropped 11 of 15 games to fall behind the Cubs and the Washington Nationals. Chicago has the best mark in baseball overall and also leads MLB in run differential.

The Nationals and Indians are two other legitimate World Series contenders based on their future odds at +750 each. The Orioles have tough competition in the AL East and are listed at +1600 to win the World Series behind both the Toronto Blue Jays (+900) and Boston Red Sox (+1200), with the three teams in a dogfight for the division.

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The New York Yankees (53-53) and New York Mets (55-51) split the first two games of the Subway Series at Citi Field and will play the next two at Yankee Stadium starting Wednesday.

The Mets bounced back from a 6-5 loss on Monday with a 7-1 victory against the Yankees on Tuesday, and they are listed as -125 road favorites (wager $125 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark with Steven Matz on the mound Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Matz (8-7, 3.35 ERA) is a veteran compared to his 25-year-old counterpart Chad Green (1-2, 4.56), who gets the call for the Yankees after making seven appearances during his rookie year, including four in relief and three starts.

The Mets have lost four of the past five games Matz has started, as he surrendered a season-high 10 hits and two runs in six innings of a 6-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies last time out at home on Friday with one walk and five strikeouts. Matz does have a winning record on the road, though, going 5-3 with a 3.35 ERA in nine starts.

Meanwhile, Green has not made a start since July 8 against the Cleveland Indians away from home. He gave up a career-worst seven runs and five hits, including four home runs, to the Indians in 4.1 innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

In his past three appearances, he has scattered just six hits over 8.1 scoreless innings of relief with three walks and seven strikeouts, dropping his ERA from 7.04 in the process.

The Yankees have won seven of the last 10 meetings overall after dropping six in a row to the Mets, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database. The over has cashed in three straight following an under run of 4-2-1 in the previous seven.

Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets is expected to be in the starting lineup as the designated hitter after getting a single in his lone pinch-hit at-bat Tuesday that also scored a run. Cespedes has been dealing with a quad injury that has limited him at times over the past month.

The newest member of the Mets, Jay Bruce, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his debut Tuesday following his arrival in a trade from the Cincinnati Reds.

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The New York Yankees (52-52) will be trying to end a four-game losing streak Monday when they visit the New York Mets (54-50) in an interleague matchup. The Yankees have the more experienced starting pitcher going to the mound and are listed at -110 (bet $110 to win $100) on the odds for the game at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

CC Sabathia (6-8, 3.95 ERA) is coming off his first victory since June 16 as he toes the rubber for the Yanks, giving up two runs and four hits in 6.2 innings of a 6-3 road win against the Houston Astros last Tuesday with two walks and five strikeouts.

That was the last time the team won a game, falling to the Astros in the finale of that series before getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend. The 36-year-old southpaw had gone 0-4 in his previous six starts, with his ERA rising more than a full run.

Meanwhile, Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.12) has gone even longer since earning a victory for the Mets, who last won with him on the mound back on April 26 in one of his 18 relief appearances. Verrett has started just nine games this season, winning his first one this year on April 19 versus the Philadelphia Phillies following six scoreless innings.

In Verrett‘s last 20 appearances, the Mets have won only four times dating back to the start of May.

The 26-year-old Verrett has been a much better pitcher at home in 2016, going 2-3 with a 3.29 ERA as opposing batters hit only .220 against him. On the road, he is 1-3 with a 5.00 ERA. However, Sabathia is also in a favorable spot situationally, going 5-3 away from home with a 3.28 ERA.

The Yankees have won six of the past eight meetings overall as well, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database, after losing six straight in this Subway Series with the Mets.

The under is 6-1 in the last seven games between the teams at Citi Field, with the lone over during that stretch coming in the most recent matchup last September. The Yankees won that game 11-2, and the previous six there all saw six runs or less scored.

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The San Francisco Giants (57-38) are winless since the All-Star break, losing five straight after closing out the first half of the year on a four-game winning streak.

Despite just getting swept by the Boston Red Sox, the Giants are listed as small -115 betting favorites (wager $115 to win $100) to end their skid at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark when they visit the New York Yankees (48-47) in the first of three games Friday.

Fortunately for San Francisco, ace Madison Bumgarner (10-5, 2.12 ERA) will make his second start of the second half and try to rebound from a road loss to the San Diego Padres last Friday. In that game, Bumgarner surrendered four runs and seven hits in six innings of a 4-1 setback with one walk and nine strikeouts.

This came after he allowed only one hit in a complete-game shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 10.

The Yankees just took three of four games from the Baltimore Orioles at home and remain over the .500 mark despite losing 4-1 on Thursday. They will counter Bumgarner with their top pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (7-2, 3.15) and have won six in a row with him on the hill.

Tanaka pitched last Sunday against the Boston Red Sox and gave up just one run and three hits in six innings of a 3-1 victory with one walk and seven strikeouts.

The big questions heading into this series are, can the Giants find a way to rebound or will New York continue to play well in hopes of making a run at the playoffs?

San Francisco has lost five of six against American League opponents, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database. Before that the Giants won five of six versus the AL, but they have not faced the Yankees since 2013 when they dropped two of three.

New York has won four of five at home, with the under cashing in the past eight at Yankee Stadium. The under is also 6-2 in the previous eight overall for San Francisco, which has seen the total go over in two straight following a 6-0 run below the number.

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