Mets May Have Easiest Road To Series
By: SBR Staff
8/7/2006 11:17:57 AM
As teams around Major League Baseball are comfortably past the 100-game mark now, the contenders are separating themselves from the pretenders in the pennant races around both leagues. And with a couple of surprises near the top of the betting boards, baseball handicappers have several interesting options when thinking about this year’s World Series.
The New York Mets top the board at PinnacleSports.com as the favorites to win this year’s World Series at +473. Shortly before the season starte
Mets May Have Easiest Road To Series
d, New York was listed at right around +880 to win The Series at Pinnacle. The Mets have a firm grip on the National League’s Eastern Division, leading by 12 games over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies. And New York leads the race for the best record (and home-field advantage in the playoffs) in the NL by a healthy margin over the Central Division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.
The surprising Detroit Tigers, +7500 to win the World Series just before this season started, are now listed as the second favorite at Pinnacle Sports at +551. New manager Jim Leyland has had an incredible influence on this team, which consists of a great combination of veterans and youngsters. Detroit owns the best record in baseball at 74-36, leads the American League Central Division by eight games over the defending World Champion Chicago White Sox, and leads the race for home-field advantage in the AL playoffs by a wide margin over the Eastern Division-leading New York Yankees.
The Yankees come next on the betting board at Pinnaclesports.com at +632 to win the World Series this year. New York began the season as the favorite to win it all at right around +360. But injuries to OFs Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui and questionable starting pitching have the Yanks battling the Boston Red Sox just to win the AL East title, and should they falter down the stretch, would have to stay ahead of both the White Sox and the smoking hot Minnesota Twins in order to secure the AL Wild Card.
Those wobbling White Sox are still listed at +654 at Pinnacle on the World Series board, after starting the season at right around +1000. Chicago stuck with the torrid pace Detroit set for most of this season so far, and went 19-8 in June. But the ChiSox stumbled badly in July as their heralded pitching staff got knocked around night after night.
The St. Louis Cardinals are the second National League team from the top of the World Series betting board at Pinnaclesports.com at +719. St. Louis started the season listed at right around +660. The Cardinals have survived that eight-game losing streak near the end of June, which saw their lead in the NL Central dwindle to just a half-game. Since then, St. Louis has opened up a healthier lead on the second-place Reds.
The Boston Red Sox are posted at +731 at Pinnacle Sports to win their second World Series title in three years. Boston has been battling the Yankees neck-and-neck in their divisional race, in great part thanks to the efforts of closer Jon Papelbon, who’s 30 of 34 in save opportunities and sports a super 0.64 ERA.
Outside of the Detroit Tigers, the surging Minnesota Twins must be the next-biggest surprise in Major League Baseball. Just a few weeks ago, Minnesota was only an afterthought, trailing the Tigers and the White Sox in both the AL Central and the AL Wild Card race by upwards of a dozen games. But the Twins, with their wonderful back-to-back lefty combination of Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano, have sizzled through July and August to pull to within striking distance of the Wild Card.
A bit further down the board are two contenders from the American League West, the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland A’s, at +1673 and +1883, respectively. The San Diego Padres, leaders of the hotly contested NL West, are posted at +2575. The Cincinnati Reds, leaders of the NL Wild Card race, are listed at an intriguing +3361.
8/7/2006 11:17:57 AM
As teams around Major League Baseball are comfortably past the 100-game mark now, the contenders are separating themselves from the pretenders in the pennant races around both leagues. And with a couple of surprises near the top of the betting boards, baseball handicappers have several interesting options when thinking about this year’s World Series.
The New York Mets top the board at PinnacleSports.com as the favorites to win this year’s World Series at +473. Shortly before the season starte
Mets May Have Easiest Road To Series
d, New York was listed at right around +880 to win The Series at Pinnacle. The Mets have a firm grip on the National League’s Eastern Division, leading by 12 games over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies. And New York leads the race for the best record (and home-field advantage in the playoffs) in the NL by a healthy margin over the Central Division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.
The surprising Detroit Tigers, +7500 to win the World Series just before this season started, are now listed as the second favorite at Pinnacle Sports at +551. New manager Jim Leyland has had an incredible influence on this team, which consists of a great combination of veterans and youngsters. Detroit owns the best record in baseball at 74-36, leads the American League Central Division by eight games over the defending World Champion Chicago White Sox, and leads the race for home-field advantage in the AL playoffs by a wide margin over the Eastern Division-leading New York Yankees.
The Yankees come next on the betting board at Pinnaclesports.com at +632 to win the World Series this year. New York began the season as the favorite to win it all at right around +360. But injuries to OFs Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui and questionable starting pitching have the Yanks battling the Boston Red Sox just to win the AL East title, and should they falter down the stretch, would have to stay ahead of both the White Sox and the smoking hot Minnesota Twins in order to secure the AL Wild Card.
Those wobbling White Sox are still listed at +654 at Pinnacle on the World Series board, after starting the season at right around +1000. Chicago stuck with the torrid pace Detroit set for most of this season so far, and went 19-8 in June. But the ChiSox stumbled badly in July as their heralded pitching staff got knocked around night after night.
The St. Louis Cardinals are the second National League team from the top of the World Series betting board at Pinnaclesports.com at +719. St. Louis started the season listed at right around +660. The Cardinals have survived that eight-game losing streak near the end of June, which saw their lead in the NL Central dwindle to just a half-game. Since then, St. Louis has opened up a healthier lead on the second-place Reds.
The Boston Red Sox are posted at +731 at Pinnacle Sports to win their second World Series title in three years. Boston has been battling the Yankees neck-and-neck in their divisional race, in great part thanks to the efforts of closer Jon Papelbon, who’s 30 of 34 in save opportunities and sports a super 0.64 ERA.
Outside of the Detroit Tigers, the surging Minnesota Twins must be the next-biggest surprise in Major League Baseball. Just a few weeks ago, Minnesota was only an afterthought, trailing the Tigers and the White Sox in both the AL Central and the AL Wild Card race by upwards of a dozen games. But the Twins, with their wonderful back-to-back lefty combination of Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano, have sizzled through July and August to pull to within striking distance of the Wild Card.
A bit further down the board are two contenders from the American League West, the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland A’s, at +1673 and +1883, respectively. The San Diego Padres, leaders of the hotly contested NL West, are posted at +2575. The Cincinnati Reds, leaders of the NL Wild Card race, are listed at an intriguing +3361.