MLB Who’s Hot and Who’s Not – July 17

The second half of the MLB regular season got underway with this past weekend’s games and the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up where they left off by sweeping the Miami Marlins on the road by a combined score of 16-7 in those three games. This boosted their MLB-best record to 64-29 and their lead over Arizona in the NL West to 10.5 games with the Diamondbacks mired in a five-game losing streak.

The Dodgers have now won their last nine games straight and going back to early June they are 29-4 in their last 33 games. This has boosted their overall moneyline return on the year at BetAnySports to plus $736. Los Angeles will stay on the road for two games this week against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday and it has not closed as an underdog in any of its last 27 contests.

Washington got off to a hot start in pursuit of the NL East Division title with three victories against Cincinnati this weekend heading into Monday’s series finale. The Nationals are 55-36 heading into Game 4 as -146 road favorites at BetAnySports. Their lead over Atlanta remained at 9.5 games in light of the Braves’ three-game weekend sweep against Arizona.

While Los Angeles and Washington appear to be on a collision course in the National League, the top team in the American League opened up its second half on a winning note. The Houston Astros took two of three against Minnesota at home to improve to an AL-best 62-30 on the year. They have a very comfortable 16.5-game lead over both Seattle and Texas in the AL West and the Astros’ total return on BetAnySports’ MLB moneyline this season now stands at plus $1564, which is the best in MLB.

The biggest series on the board this past weekend was an extended four-game set between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park that included a Sunday double header. The Yankees (47-43) were able to hold their ground in the AL East title race with a 2-2 series split that kept them 3.5 games in back of the Red Sox, who are now 52-41 on the year.

Cleveland did not help its cause in the AL Central with three straight road losses to Oakland to start the second half after closing as a favorite in all three contests. The Indians (47-43) lead over the Twins (46-45) is down to a game and a half heading into this week’s three-game road series against San Francisco.