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The MLB season is quickly coming up on its annual hiatus with the All-Star break scheduled for July 8-10. That has some clubs looking ahead to time off while others are focusing on a strong finish and a run to the postseason in the second half.
With motivation playing a major roll in results this week, these are the ball clubs who could be already on vacation (in their heads) and the ones trying to build momentum before the break. Choose the best online betting sites and bet accordingly:
BEWARE BEFORE THE BREAK
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are on the road before the break, playing at Seattle before traveling to the Bay Area to face the San Francisco Giants this weekend. Heading into Wednesday, St. Louis had only one win in its last seven games and posted an uninspired 13-13 mark in June which pushed them to the bottom of the National League Central.
The Cardinals haven’t been great on the road, with a 17-24 record, and plate just 4.4 runs per away outing. Their pitching staff has suffered as visitors as well, watching the collective ERA climb to 4.93 – compared to just 3.47 at home (fifth lowest in the majors). An extended home stand waits for St. Louis after the break, and the players will be eager to get away from losing baseball for a couple days.
Los Angeles Angels
Baseball is far from the minds of the L.A. Angels this week following the sudden death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs. The team postponed its series opener https://dietitianlavleen.com/get-rid-of-accutane/ with the Texas Rangers but was right back to work the next day, putting an emotion effort in for a 9-4 victory. That win snapped a three-game skid and while some would expect the Halos to play inspired baseball until the break, it really just leaves a sad cloud over the club.
The Angels are on the road until the Mid-Summer Classic, finishing up in Texas Thursday before traveling to play the Houston Astros this weekend. Los Angeles has struggled in divisional matchups, going 16-24 against American League West foes in 2019. With Skaggs’ memorial likely to happen during the break, there’s a lot happening off the diamond that’s weighing on this team.
BET BEFORE THE BREAK
Oakland A’s
Oakland is marching up the standings with a strong finish to the first half of the schedule, posting a 7-2 mark in their last nine games heading into Wednesday’s home stand with the Minnesota Twins. They went 5-1 on a recent six-game road trip, get a brief breather at home versus the Twins, before visiting slumping Seattle.
The Athletics are hitting the ball hard, with an average of six runs per game this past week, and also getting complementing efforts from the pitching staff. They’ve limited opponents to three runs or less in nine of their last 14 games, earning bettors almost eight units of profits in that span. Oakland is seven games back of the Astros in the AL West but a shot at the Wild Card is very much a possibiliy should they continue to climb.
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