This year will be the 80th occasion when the Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be played. The 2009 edition will feature as always the best of the players from the American League and the National League. The game is to be played on July 14 in front of a packed Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri which is also the home of the National League St. Louis Cardinals. It will be after 43 years since 1966, that the All Star Game will be played in St. Louis. Full Article

ODDS, PARLAY, MONEYLINE BETTING CONVERTER

The Betting

The 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be played to determine who will have the home field advantage for the World Series. It must be understood that home filed advantage is critical for baseball as every ground has different dimensions and often teams are built on the basis of the home ground. This is the seventh year when the game will determine the home field advantage. During the previous six occasions the American League has won all the games. Full Article

ODDS, PARLAY, MONEYLINE BETTING CONVERTER

MLB Betting – Who’s Hot MLB’s Hottest Home Teams

Home field advantage in the majors this season has been as important as ever. Now that July baseball is here and pretenders are being left behind the contenders, check out BetUS Sportsbook’s list of the hottest home teams in the bigs…

(Rank) (Team) (SU Road Record, $$$) (SU Road Record in L/5, $$$)

1: Tampa Bay Rays (26-13, +$662) (5-0, +$500 in L/5) Some of the big name teams in the American League that got off to lousy starts are beginning to play significantly better baseball, and the Rays are no exception. They’ve run off seven straight overall, including five at home last week to get back within four games of Boston for the top spot in the AL East. Tampa Bay scored 32 runs in its L/5 home games, but the more impressive stat came out of the pitching staff, which only allowed 12 runs in those games. The bullpen is starting to come together like last season, and all in all, manager Joe Maddon has to be very happy with his starting pitching staff, especially now that RHP Andy Sonnanstine is no longer a part of it. The only question left is how many of these Rays will be All-Stars in two weeks. 3B Evan Longoria, LF Carl Crawford, 2B/RF Ben Zobrist, SS Jason Bartlett, and a host of pitchers have a good gripe.

2: Detroit Tigers (23-11, +$918) (5-0, +$500 in L/5) The Tigers may only be 2-3 to start off their nine-game roadie, but they certainly left Comerica Park in good form. They swept away both the Cubs and Brewers in their final home stand of the month of June, and did so by scoring at least five runs in four of those five ‘W’s. Even though manager Jim Leyland’s bunch has a four-game cushion in the AL Central, both the White Sox and Twinkies are starting to breathe down their necks. Detroit still has one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, as SPs Edwin Jackson, Justin Verlander, and Rick Porcello are a combined 22-12 this season, and all have sub-4.00 ERAs.

3: Florida Marlins (22-20, -$49) (5-0, +$500 in L/5) The Fish have won seven straight games at home, and very well could see that streak reach 11 games very easily. Yes, in fairness, the L/5 of those games has come against the Nationals and Orioles, but the two wins that started this streak were against the Yankees. Florida has scored at least four runs in six straight home games, and has really been tearing the cover off the ball. With the Mets slumping, the Marlins are comfortably up in second place in the NL East standings, and now they’re starting to stalk the Phillies, who haven’t been playing fantastic baseball of late either. Don’t count this squad out of the playoff race just yet. Much like last season, they’ll be in it until the very end.

And the rest…

4: Colorado Rockies (17-15, -$192) (5-0, +$500 in L/5)
5: Chicago White Sox (20-20, -$478) (4-1, +$336 in L/5)

The Cubs and White Sox renew hostilities this weekend, this time at U.S. Cellular Field. On Saturday it will be Ryan Dempster matching up against Mark Buehrle. Dempster has been the hard luck pitcher on the Cubs this season as he is 4-5 with a 3.83 ERA.

MLB Betting Preview Chicago Cubs at Chicago White SoxSaturday, 4:05 pm Eastern – Fox

Buehrle is 7-2 with a 3.17 ERA for the Sox. “I wish the only Interleague games were the Cubs,” White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko said. “I think the games that lose intensity are the other Interleague games.”

Check out the current line for this game at SBG Global.

The Cubs and White Sox split their two games at Wrigley Field last week with one rainout. “I think that both teams have been making the playoffs and been in contention,” Konerko said. “One team won a World Series. I think the fans and everybody have their sights set on the end of the year, which, before the last couple of years, didn’t really exist. It was all about what happened in this series.”

In his last start against the Braves, Dempster allowed only two runs in 6 2/3 innings but took the loss. In his last outing against the White Sox he allowed three runs in six innings.

Buehrle pitched seven shutout innings in his last start against Cincinnati, allowing only five hits. Buehrle is 19-6 all-time in Interleague Play. He is 4-4 with a 4.57 ERA in 10 starts against the Cubs in his career.

Before this series began on Friday, the White Sox and Cubs had split their 68 Interleague meetings. “This series is like no other,” White Sox pitcher John Danks said. “Even some of our division games here don’t have the same feeling as the Cubs-Sox game. It’s just the way it is. There’s definitely a lot more tension surrounding that. It makes it fun.”

Here are the MLB Betting stats for Saturday’s game. The Cubs are 2-5 in their last 7 Interleague road games vs. a left-handed starter. The Cubs are 1-10 in Dempster’s last 11 road starts.

The White Sox are 10-2 in their last 12 Inter league home games. The White Sox are 10-4 in their last 14 vs. the National League Central. The White Sox are 45-20 in Buehrle’s last 65 home starts.

The Under is 4-1-1 in the Cubs last 6 road games vs. a left-handed starter. The Under is 5-0 in Dempster’s last 5 starts overall. The Under is 23-4 in the White Sox last 27 home games vs. a right-handed starter. The Under is 8-2 in Buehrle’s last 10 starts overall.