At present, the leaders of the National League are:

• Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East with a 52-44 record to date
• Chicago Cubs for the NL Central with a current record of 57-38
• Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL West with a current record of 47-48

Of course, the top performers of each division will be heading to the 2008 MLB Playoffs with a wild card to be given to the second place team with the best record in the entire National. At present, the Wild Card race in the National League is being sought after by the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers of the NL Central.

The Milwaukee Brewers have a current record of 52-43 while the St. Louis Cardinals have a current record of 53-43. If the St. Louis Cardinals can keep up their performance, then they might be sure to claim the National League wild card to make a trip to the 2008 MLB Playoffs.

Bet on St. Louis Cardinals to win NL Wild Card.

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Future Bets for the 2008 World Series have been released, and an interesting prop bet for sports bettors is the Intrastate World Series Odds, which basically means that you can place a bet on which US State will be home to both teams in the 2008 World Series. The Super7Casino.com Sportsbook has give out the Intrastate World Series Odds, and they are as follows:

• ILLINOIS (Cubs, White Sox) +500
• NEW YORK (Mets, Yankees) +2,500
• CALIFORNIA (Angels, Athletics, Dodgers, Giants, Padres) +2,500
• FLORIDA (Marlins, Rays) +6,000
• OHIO (Indians, Reds) +500,000
• MISSOURI (Cardinals, Royals) +150,000
• TEXAS (Rangers, Astros) +800,000
• NO INTRASTATE WORLD SERIES -800

To win the bet, both teams who will play in the 2008 World Series must be from the same US State. While this may seem unlikely, the payouts could be very handsome should it push through. A minimum $5 bet on Texas could possibly pay out $40,500. Of course, that’s highly unlikely, considering that the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros might not even make the 2008 MLB Playoffs. But then, if you have $50 to spare, you can place bets across the board, and you might score a big win.

Of course, the sure bet is that there will be NO INRASTATE WORLD SERIES in 2008, and a $1000 bet can profit $125, a rate of 12.5%, which is a good investment that will gives a higher return of interest than opening a savings account in a bank.

Bet on Major League Baseball.

Bet on Intrastate World Series odds.

The Boston Red Sox will be going up against their arch rivals New York Yankees this coming August 2008 at Yankees Stadium in New York City.

Of course, the New York Yankees are favored to win against the Boston Red Sox with the home crowd support. But then, sometimes even the home crowd cheer is not enough for the New York Yankees who will be facing the likes of David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees will be relying on its star players like Melky Cabrera, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to provide an inspiring win over the Boston Red Sox.

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The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees will both be trying to pick up a win on Thursday when they battle at Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees will hope to beat the Boston Red Sox again, and extend their win streak to 4 wins!
Ace righthander Josh Beckett will take the mound for the Boston Red Sox to start this game. Josh Beckett is 1-1 this season with a 6.35 ERA.

The New York Yankees will counter Josh Beckett with Mike Mussina. Righthander Mike Mussina has a 4.15 ERA to go along with a 1-2 record this season.

Oddsmakers currently have the Boston Red Sox listed as 124-moneyline favorites versus the New York Yankees, while the game’s total is sitting at 9.

The New York Yankees scored four runs on three separate occasions Wednesday, as they cruised past the Boston Red Sox 15-9. The New York Yankees won the game as -145 favorites, while the 24 runs sailed OVER the posted over/under (9).

Jorge Posada went 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs to lead the Yankees. La Troy Hawkins threw two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.

J.D. Drew went 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs for the Red Sox, who were +130 underdogs. Julian Tavarez gave up four runs off three hits in just over one inning of relief for the loss.

Current streak:
New York Yankees have won 3 straight games.

A few trends to consider:
Boston Red Sox are 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Boston Red Sox are 2-4 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Boston Red Sox are 3-8 SU in their last 11 games when playing NY Yankees
Boston Red Sox are 0-5 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Yankees
NY Yankees are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games when playing at home against the Boston Red Sox
NY Yankees are 8-3 SU in their last 11 games when playing the Boston Red Sox
NY Yankees are 5-2 SU in their last 7 games
NY Yankees are 13-6 SU in their last 19 games at home

Bet on Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees. Bet on Major League Baseball.

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New York Yankees Tickets available here.

Baltimore Orioles are expected to have a worse 2008 season than 2007! Why?

Starting Pitching:

In baseball, you don’t have much if you don’t have starting pitching meaning the Baltimore Orioles don’t have much. They traded their ace Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners and now head into the current season with Jeremy Guthrie, Daniel Cabrera and Adam Loewen as their top three starters. Jeremy Guthrie finished 2007 with a record of 7-5, Daniel Cabrera led the league with 18 losses while Adam Loewen missed the entire season with a stress fracture in his left elbow. Troy Patton and Garrett Olson, two unproven youngsters, are expected to round out the starting rotation.

Their front five is among the worst in the MLB.

Relief Pitching:

With Chris Ray and Danys Baez expected to be out most – if not all – of the season with Tommy John surgery, the Orioles will look to a number of scrubs to seal games. Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker are the only returnees from last year’s bullpen but both are decent.

The biggest hole in the Orioles bullpen is the closer spot. Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford are better at setting the table for a closer and that guy might be George Sherrill, who was acquired as part of the package in return for Erik Bedard.

Hitting:

Miguel Tejada has been traded and Brian Roberts is rumored to be dealt soon. The heart of the lineup includes Nick Markakis, Aubrey Huff, Ramon Hernandez, Luke Scott, Melvin Mora and Kevin Millar. Outside of Nick Markakis, there isn’t much to be excited about. Center fielder Adam Jones, the jewel centerpiece in the Erik Bedard trade, will likely bat near the bottom of the order until he gets accustomed to the pros.

The Orioles had (in 2007) and have a lack of power up and down the entire lineup. Furthermore, if Brian Roberts is dealt, they’ll have a problem at the top of their order as well. There aren’t any evident answers to that problem on this roster.

Regular Season Win Total 65.5:

The Orioles won 69 games last year and despite what Kevin Millar says, the Orioles look much worse as a team in 2008.

By the way, Kevin Millar said that the World Series goes through Baltimore this year.

Baltimore is without an ace, without a superstar bat and no closer. That’s a recipe for disaster.

Erik Bedard was 13-5 for the Orioles last year and chewed up 182 innings during an injury-plagued season. The next closest starting pitcher was Daniel Cabrera and his nine wins were accompanied by 18 losses.

The rebuilding project in Baltimore has started and it will likely end with less than 65 wins this season.

MLB Betting Free Pick: Under 65.5 Wins

To find out the latest MLB betting odds, or to bet on Major League Baseball, then visit the Major League Baseball sportsbook.

Former New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens is under scrutiny by the FBI, who are investigating his testimony in Congress where Clemens claimed that he did not take performance-enhancing drugs. Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants was last season’s victim, and despite getting the record for the most career home runs, he got sacked by the San Francisco Giants due to the controversy that Bonds took performance-enhancing drugs.

Now, Roger Clemens is under fire. The question is - will he be back to play Major League Baseball this coming 2008 Major League Baseball season? Roger Clemens is one of the MLB’s best pitchers, having won the Cy Young award seven times for his pitching prowess.

Roger Clemens is now going to be under investigation for perjury, and if found guilty… Well, let’s just say that we might not have the pleasure of his pitching.

Just recently, Roger Clemens was seen at pitching practice in the Houston Astros minor league spring training camp. He was wearing a Houston Astros uniform, but that really doesn’t mean that he’s going to be pitching for the Astros. As of press time, Roger Clemens is known to be a free agent. He did pitch for the Yankees last season, and with the Houston Astros before that. For the upcoming 2008 MLB season, we’ll just have to wait until his case is over to find out if Roger Clemens will return to Major League Baseball.