The universal designated hitter and seven-inning games for doubleheaders have caused a reshuffling of betting norms for MLB fans. Here are a few midseason eye-openers.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A number of U.S. professional sports teams are boycotting scheduled games to protest the shooting of an unarmed Wisconsin man. Stand by for breaking news.

We’ve reached the halfway point of the 60-game shortened MLB season.

The universal designated hitter, seven-inning games for doubleheaders and the concept of a sprint, not a marathon, mean sports bettors have to be even more strategic.

Here are a few midseason eye-openers and betting pointers:

• Did you think the Boston Red Sox, THOSE Boston Red Sox who won 84 games last year, would be 10-20 at the halfway mark? Sure, you did. This team’s season may be shot, but the Red Sox can’t be this bad. Think about jumping on them for a while, as there should be at least one good run for them. They can’t really have four less wins than the Baltimore Orioles, can they? The standings say yes.
• We really did predict trouble for the Washington Nationals before the season started. The defending World Series champs lost the nucleus of their team and now are without Stephen Strasburg for the rest of the year. The prop for them to win less than 33 games is looking sweet right now.
• Perhaps the most fun team to watch and bet is the San Francisco Giants. They play tough teams like the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Dodgers before losing those games. But they’ve been good to over bettors in the over-under prop line (the total runs generated by both teams.).
• A team with good bats and no pitching is a good fit with over bettors. The Giants don’t get much attention because they’re in the same division as the Dodgers, but they warrant a bet.
• The Dodgers opened the week 22-8 and were projected at com and PlaySugarHouse.com to win a league-high 37.5 games, along with the New York Yankees. The Dodgers can play .500 ball the rest of the way and cash that over ticket for you.

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Better Bets

According to updated World Series odds from PlaySugarHouse.com, the Dodgers are +380, the Yankees are +400, the Minnesota Twins have jumped to +900 and the Oakland A’s are +1200.

And we still have half a season remaining, plus playoffs.

Seven-inning doubleheaders have been necessitated by the Covid-based postponements early in the season. That’s changing one of baseball’s storied axioms a bit. It used to be nearly automatic that the team losing the first game won the second. That’s still basically true, but a few more doubleheader sweeps are happening with the shorter games.

Watch the total runs line. Apps weren’t designed to reflect seven-inning games for your original bet. If you see a number like 6.5 or 7 for the projected runs total, it’s most likely a seven-inning game. That’s not prominently posted.

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