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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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The Boston Red Sox (52-39) acquired lefty Drew Pomeranz (8-7, 2.47 ERA) hoping to put themselves over the top in the race to win the American League East.

Pomeranz was used to being an underdog with the San Diego Padres, but he is listed as a -190 betting favorite (bet $190 to win $100) Wednesday at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark for an interleague matchup with the San Francisco Giants (57-37).

Pomeranz faced the Giants three times when he was a member of the Padres, going 0-2 with a 2.60 ERA. San Diego was outscored 8-5 in those games, losing each time by only one run. He is 3-0 in his past four starts overall, allowing one run or fewer in his last three appearances, with all of them resulting in wins.

The Red Sox gave up one of their top pitching prospects in 18-year-old Anderson Espinoza, so the pressure is on them to win now, and Pomeranz will be counted on to come through in this spot.

San Francisco will counter with righty Matt Cain (1-5, 5.34 ERA), who was activated from the 15-day disabled list after dealing with a hamstring injury. Cain has not pitched since June 13, when he surrendered three runs and five hits in 3.2 innings of an 11-5 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cain has started 11 games overall for the Giants this season, going 0-2 in four road outings with a 6.05 ERA. His lone win came versus the Chicago Cubs at home on May 21, as he gave up one run and six hits in six innings of work.

Boston has won three of the previous four meetings with San Francisco along with nine of 12 following a 4-0 victory on Tuesday, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.

Offense has been a major problem for the Giants in the series recently, as they have scored three runs or less in each of the last eight games between the teams, with the under going 5-3-1.

The under is also 11-2 in the past 13 starts for Pomeranz, cashing in three straight. Cain has seen the over go 5-3 in his last eight starts, although the under is 5-1 in San Francisco’s past six overall.

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The New York Mets (49-42) have won all four meetings with the Chicago Cubs (55-36) so far this season and eight in a row overall dating back to last year’s National League Championship Series as they battle Monday in the first of three games at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs are coming off a series win over the Texas Rangers and are listed as 20-33 betting favorites (wager $165 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Chicago dropped the series finale to Texas 4-1 on Sunday after winning the first two games by a combined score of 9-1. The Cubs had entered the All-Star break losing 15 of their previous 21 games but now own an eight-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.

Meanwhile, New York is six games back of the Washington Nationals in the NL East following a series victory against the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend.

The Mets will send 25-year-old Steven Matz (7-5, 3.38 ERA) to the mound looking to extend the series winning streak against Chicago to nine.

Matz did not pitch well in his first start against the Cubs at home June 30, walking away with a no-decision in an eventual 4-3 win after giving up all three runs and seven hits in 5.1 innings. He threw 104 pitches and walked three batters while striking out six.

The total went under in that game, but the over is 3-1-1 in the past five meetings overall, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.

The Cubs will counter with lefty Jon Lester (9-4, 3.01 ERA), who has seen his team outscored 26-9 in the last two games he has started. They started the year 11-3 in Lester’s first 14 outings but are 1-3 in his last four, with him failing to earn a victory during that stretch.

Lester got bombed in his lone appearance against New York in 2016, surrendering a season-high eight runs and nine hits in only 1.1 innings of a 14-3 loss at Citi Field on July 3. He has been much better at home though, going 4-2 in eight starts with a 2.32 ERA. Opposing batters are hitting just .200 against him at Wrigley.

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The New York Yankees (44-44) have not enjoyed much success against the Boston Red Sox (49-38) so far this season but will try to move one step closer to evening the score when they host their American League East rivals in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

The Yankees have dropped four of the first six meetings this year, although they are listed as solid -140 favorites (bet $140 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark with Michael Pineda (3-8, 5.38 ERA) on the mound for Friday.

Pineda had been pitching better recently until he suffered his eighth loss on the road against the Chicago White Sox last Wednesday. The big righty gave up five runs and five hits in six innings of a 5-0 loss at Chicago with three walks and five strikeouts.

New York had won in each of his previous three starts, as he allowed five earned runs in 17.1 innings with four walks and 29 strikeouts. He is 0-1 in two starts versus the Red Sox in 2016 with a 3.27 ERA, walking four and striking out seven in 11 innings.

Opposing Pineda for Boston will be Steven Wright (10-5, 2.68 ERA), who has struggled of late but has still seen his team emerge victorious. The 31-year-old knuckleballer has given up 10 runs and 17 hits in 11 innings over his past two starts, with the Red Sox winning both times.

Wright has pitched much better on the road this season with a 4-4 mark and 1.88 ERA, as opposing batters have hit only .193 against him on the road.

Based on how each pitcher has performed lately, this pitching matchup would seem to have high-scoring affair written all over it, although the recent series history between the teams says otherwise. The under is 4-2-1 in the past seven meetings dating back to last season.

Wright turned in a dominant outing in his lone start versus the Yankees on the road back on May 8, allowing one run and three hits in earning a complete-game victory with one walk and seven strikeouts. That game finished under in a 5-1 win for Boston, a team that enters the second half of the season at +1400 on the odds to win the World Series.

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The Chicago Cubs (53-35) lost 15 of their last 21 games heading into the MLB All-Star break, including nine of 11, but they are still +375 favorites (bet $100 to win $375) to end their championship drought at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The Cubs own a seven-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals (46-42) in the National League Central and are 7.5 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates (46-43), two teams that finished with better records a year ago but ended up losing to Chicago in the playoffs.

The Cardinals (+3300 to win the World Series) are at their lowest point of the season from a betting perspective after sitting at +1800 back on April 29.

Meanwhile, the Pirates (+5000) are even lower and were +2000 on April 29, when the Cubs were +500.

The division’s Milwaukee Brewers (38-49) and Cincinnati Reds (32-57) have virtually no shot to win the World Series right now at +50000 and +200000, respectively.

Two other division leaders in the league look to be Chicago’s top competition for the pennant. The NL West-leading San Francisco Giants (57-33) are the second choice to win the World Series at +550, and the NL East-leading Washington Nationals (54-36) are +900.

The Giants have won the World Series in the past three even-numbered years and were as high as +1400 to win it this year on April 29.

The Nationals opened the season at +1800 on April 6 and were the +750 second choice on April 29.

The American League won home-field advantage in the World Series for the fourth consecutive year on Tuesday with a 4-2 victory in the 87th MLB All-Star Game. That worked out well last season for the Kansas City Royals (45-43), who won the World Series after taking the AL Central with a 95-67 mark.

The Royals are +2000 to repeat on the World Series odds and will likely need to overtake the Cleveland Indians (52-36) to make the playoffs this year. The Indians went 81-80 a year ago, and they are the +750 fourth choice to win the World Series behind another division leader from the AL in the Texas Rangers (54-36).

The Rangers are +700 to win the World Series and have appeared in it twice in the previous six seasons. They lost both times, though, falling to San Francisco in 2010 and St. Louis in 2011.

The Toronto Blue Jays (51-40) beat Texas in last year’s AL Divisional Series, and they are among three teams in the AL East that are more than 10 games over .500.

The Blue Jays are +1000 to win the World Series, ahead of both the division-leading Baltimore Orioles (51-36) and Boston Red Sox (49-38), who are each +1400. The Orioles have been one of the biggest movers on those odds since the season started.

Betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.

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The National League will try to end a three-game winning streak for the American League when they square off Tuesday in the 2016 MLB All-Star Game at San Diego’s Petco Park.

The NL is currently set as a -120 favorite (bet $120 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark, with Johnny Cueto (13-1, 2.47 ERA) of the San Francisco Giants getting the starting nod against the AL’s Chris Sale (14-3, 3.38) of the Chicago White Sox.

Cueto has proved to be an outstanding offseason addition for the NL West-leading Giants (57-33), who have the best record in the league and are just behind the Chicago Cubs on the odds to win the World Series, according to GambleOnline.co.

Cueto joined San Francisco after helping lead the Kansas City Royals to the World Series title last year, giving the the Giants arguably the best one-two punch in baseball behind ace Madison Bumgarner (10-4, 1.94 ERA).

Meanwhile, Sale leads all of baseball in wins as the ace for the White Sox (45-43), who were the top team in the AL for the first month of the season before coming back down to earth in the middle of May. He ranks third in the league in strikeouts with 123 and 11th in ERA.

Sale has never won the Cy Young Award, finishing a career-best third in 2014, but he will likely have some stiff competition from others who are pitching for more competitive teams.

Last year, the AL doubled up the NL 6-3 at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park behind winning pitcher David Price and MVP Mike Trout, who became the first player in 38 years to lead off the game with a homer.

The Royals ended up using the home-field advantage earned from that victory to defeat the New York Mets in the World Series.

The NL squad will be without a couple of top pitchers, as Bumgarner nearly no-hit the Arizona Diamondbacks (38-52) on Sunday night and will be replaced by Bartolo Colon of the Mets (47-41) as a result. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers will also miss the game because of a back injury after six previous appearances.

For the AL, David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox (49-38) will make his 10th and final appearance in the Midsummer Classic before retiring at the end of this season.

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An American League player has won the MLB Home Run Derby in five of the past six years, but Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is the +300 betting favorite (wager $100 to win $300) for Monday’s event at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. Stanton has 20 home runs heading into the break.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant leads the National League with 25 homers, but he will not be participating in the Home Run Derby. The current MLB leader is Mark Trumbo of the Baltimore Orioles with 28, and he is listed as the +375 second choice.

Third choice Wil Myers (+550) will be the local favorite as a member of the hometown San Diego Padres.

This year’s MLB All-Star Game festivities will take place at San Diego’s Petco Park, where Myers has hit 13 of his 19 homers this season. The Padres first baseman has hit only one this month, and that came at home against the New York Yankees on July 1.

Home-field advantage worked out well last year for third baseman Todd Frazier, who won the contest with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Frazier was traded to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason and is tied with Bryant for the second-most homers in MLB with 25.

Frazier ended a five-year reign for AL sluggers who had won the Home Run Derby, becoming the first NL batter to win it since Prince Fielder in 2009. The previous hometown player to win it was Ryne Sandberg of the Cubs in 1990.

In addition, Trumbo, Stanton, Myers and Frazier are all favored to win their first-round matchups on the 2016 Home Run Derby odds. Trumbo is -175 chalk (bet $175 to win $100) against Corey Seager (+145) of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Stanton is also -175 versus Robinson Cano (+135) of the Seattle Mariners.

Myers is a smaller -150 favorite against Adam Duvall (+110) of the Reds, while Frazier is -140 versus Carlos Gonzalez (+100) of the Colorado Rockies. The contest lasts three rounds and is based on head-to-head matchups in a single-elimination tournament until the champion is crowned.

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Few pitchers in baseball have been better than Michael Fulmer (7-1, 2.52 ERA) of the Detroit Tigers (34-32) lately, as the rookie has been nearly unhittable over his past four starts en route to a personal five-game winning streak.

Fulmer will try to make it six in a row when he and the Tigers visit the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals (35-31) in the second game of a four-game series Friday as -115 road betting favorites (bet $115 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Fulmer has pitched 28.1 consecutive scoreless innings—allowing just nine hits over his previous four starts combined—with his ERA dropping four full runs over his last five outings.

Detroit has won in each of his previous seven trips to the mound, as he walked away with a no-decision only once during that stretch. The team’s top pitching prospect has yet to face Kansas City, but he is 5-1 in seven road outings with a 3.10 ERA.

Opposing Fulmer for the Royals will be mercurial righty Yordano Ventura (5-4, 4.93 ERA), who ended a two-game losing streak by earning a victory against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

After getting ejected for throwing at Manny Machado in a 9-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Ventura bounced back nicely with one of his better starts. He allowed one run and five hits with one walk and a season-high 10 strikeouts in seven innings versus the White Sox.

The lone run he gave up came on a solo home run by Jose Abreu in the sixth inning with his team leading 2-0 on its way to a 3-1 win.

Ventura has not lost at home this year, going 3-0 with a 4.55 ERA in five outings. He is also 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA against the Tigers in 2016, allowing two runs and six hits with three walks and five strikeouts in five innings of an 8-6 home victory April 19.

Kansas City had won two of three meetings with Detroit before blowing a 4-3 lead in a 10-4 loss on Thursday. The Tigers scored seven times in the last three innings, as the over improved to 9-2 in 11 meetings, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.

The Royals enter the weekend back in the pack at +1800 on the World Series odds at the sportsbooks in their quest to repeat as champions.

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The Chicago White Sox (29-25) are fighting to get back to the top of the division, winning two in a row heading into Friday’s road matchup with the Detroit Tigers (25-28) following a season-high seven-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, the Tigers will try to move one step closer to the .500 mark when they send Jordan Zimmermann to the hill as minus-140 home betting favorites (bet $140 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Zimmermann (7-2, 2.52 ERA) got off to a great start for Detroit, winning his first five starts by posting a stellar 0.55 ERA after inking a five-year, $110 free-agent deal in the offseason. However, he has struggled lately, going 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA in his past four outings and dealing with a groin injury that forced him to miss his last start.

The Tigers have dropped five of six overall following a 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday in a makeup game. They will face Chicago for the first time this year after going 10-9 in the 2015 season series, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database, including 6-4 at home.

The over has gone 6-4 in the past 10 meetings at Comerica Park, but the under is 5-1-1 in the last seven between the teams overall.

The way the White Sox have been scoring lately, the total could be headed under here as well. They have averaged 3.3 runs in their last nine games and totaled 17 less than Detroit has scored this year. However, Chicago’s Carlos Rodon (2-4, 4.24) has seen his team average 6.5 runs in the previous four he has started, despite losing three of them.

Still, Rodon walked away with three no-decisions during that stretch and has managed to go 1-2 in his past six outings, even though the Sox have lost five of them.

The 23-year-old southpaw has split his last two starts, both coming against the Kansas City Royals, giving up three runs and 14 hits in 11.2 innings with four walks and seven strikeouts. The over is 3-1 in his last four starts, after the under went 5-0-1 in his first six.

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Following a high-scoring four-game home-and-home series against the San Diego Padres, the Seattle Mariners (31-22) will travel to Arlington for the first of three games against the Texas Rangers (31-22) on Friday.

While the Mariners were busy rallying back to knock off the Padres 16-13 to win that interleague series Thursday, the Rangers enjoyed a day off and head into this American League West matchup as -140 home betting favorites (bet $140 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Texas and Seattle are tied atop the division and will play each other six times in the next 10 games after splitting the first six meetings in early April. The Rangers are 9-3 in their last 12 since getting swept in a three-game road set versus the Oakland Athletics, while the Mariners lost three in a row to the Minnesota Twins before playing San Diego.

Despite outscoring the Padres 47-34 in that series, Seattle’s starting pitching is a big concern, especially after surrendering 27 of those runs in the last two games.

Taijuan Walker (2-5, 3.31 ERA) has seen the Mariners lose five of his last six starts, with his ERA gradually rising from a season-low of 1.44 heading into May. He suffered a neck injury against the Houston Astros on May 6 and has not been the same since.

Walker has surrendered nine home runs in his past five outings and gave up only one in his first five combined, which includes a 4-2 home victory against Texas back on April 13. The under cashed in that game and is 7-2-1 in his 10 starts this year. However, the over is 4-1 in the past five meetings, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.

The Rangers hope ace Yu Darvish (1-0, 1.80 ERA) will continue to be as sharp in his second start as he was in his first when he allowed one run and three hits in five innings of a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates last Saturday. He missed last season following Tommy John surgery and will continue to be on a pitch count after throwing 81 against the Pirates, with Texas expected to keep him under 100 in this outing.

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