By Dan Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
For a few hours at least, Major League Baseball will take occupy center stage in America’s collective consciousness.
You can bet on it too.
The opportunity arises Tuesday when American League All-Stars will take on the National League All-Stars. The game will be played at Dodger Stadium, the 56,000-capacity venue at 1000 Vin Scully Ave. sometimes called Chavez Ravine, where aloof fans typically gaze at their phones, gawk at celebrities, real and otherwise, in the crowd and sometimes even watch the game while downing a Dodger Dog that goes for $6.75. (Old-timey baseball fans might remember a time when $6.75 would fetch a box seat, but that’s another story.)
American League stars such Aaron Judge, Mike Trout, and Shohei Ohtani will be on display while the National League will have Mookie Betts, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Manny Machado.
The first pitch is at 5 p.m.
The National League is generally the favorite around -116 with the American League at -102. The total is 8. Trend followers may wish to note the American League has won every game played since 2013 (with the 2020 version canceled because of the coronavirus). Also, the National League has lost five straight All-Star games played in National League parks.
Can’t wait until Tuesday? The Home Run Derby is at 5 p.m. Monday. At Vegas Insider, the top contenders are:
— Pete Alonso (Mets) + 200. He is also +120 to reach the finals.
— Kyle Schwarber (Phillies) +330
— Juan Soto (Nationals) +600
— Ronald Acuna Jr. (Braves) +650
— Julio Rodriguez (Mariners) +850
— Corey Seager (Rangers) +900
— Jose Ramirez ( Guardians) +1600
— Albert Pujols (Cardinals) +2200
There are also odds to reach the finals, such as that for Alonso, and exact finalist odds that match respective hitters.
Elsewhere:
— Aces in action: Got the Las Vegas Aces figured out yet? That’s all right, neither do we.
Two days after the Fourth of July, the Aces were drilled by the New York Liberty at home, 116-107. Six days after that and presumably rested, the Aces defeated the Liberty, 107-101, at New York. In that game, they failed to cover -6.5 by the “hook.”
Last Thursday, the Aces bolted to a 71-36 first-half lead over the Liberty before a crowd of 9,896 at the Barclays Center in New York. Perhaps they were becoming familiar with the New York team?
They won that game, 108-74, and covered -6. It was only their second cover in the last 10 games. Still looking for that trend? Consider this: Their last three games, all vs. the Liberty, went over the total.
In fact, the Aces were 14-8-2 over/under while 11-13 ATS going into their early Sunday game vs. the Connecticut Sun. The early line was Aces -1 but the number moved all the way to -4.5 after Sun forward Jonquel Jones was ruled out after a positive COVID-19 test.
After trailing 20-14 at the end of the first quarter, they outscored the Sun in the remaining three quarters to win, 91-83. Kelsey Plum led all scorers with 22 points and added four assists. That was a cover and — narrowly — over 173.5.
So, got the Aces figured out yet? Neither do we.
They next host the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday.
— UFC Fight Night: Curtis Blaydes opposes Tom Aspinall in the featured heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.
Aspinall is the -138 favorite and Blaydes is +110 on the match that will originate from the 02 Arena in London.
— Laugher of the week: Did you play over 7.5 runs on the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game on Sunday? With Chris Sale vs. Gerrit Cole, a few might have expected a pitcher’s duel. It wasn’t. The Yankees routed the Red Sox after Sale suffered a fractured left pinkie finger and won, 13-2. In fact, the final score was exactly twice the posted total. You could almost hear the chuckling in the line to cash the tickets.