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ARLINGTON -- The Midsummer Classic is upon us with the Major League Baseball All-Star Game set for Tuesday, July 16 at 8 p.m. ET. Expect the festivities at the start to delay the first pitch by upwards of 15 minutes, but it can be fun to listen for who gets booed the loudest during player introductions. We can't bet on that, obviously, but there's action to be had elsewhere, so let's take a look. 

Before we dive completely in, a quick word: The All-Star Game is a total crapshoot and you should only be gambling for sport here. I'm talking like $5 or something, or whatever amount you consider meaningless fun. We're simply throwing things at a wall in these games as we never know what matchups are going to determine the game. 

The plays!

National League to win, +100

The NL won last season to break a nine-game AL winning streak. The streak didn't mean the AL was the superior team every single year, because we know how baseball can go. The Cubs just swept the Orioles this past week, after all, and the Orioles are the far better team. 

Given how much of a crapshoot it is, I'm just taking the plus money underdog. I feel like both teams have a nearly even shot to win the game, which means I'm simply grabbing the better number. That's it. An earnest breakdown of the two rosters would be a total waste of time, so don't bother. Just pick a side and run with it. 

Under 7.5 runs, -125

I will, however, earnestly discuss this one. The past four All-Star Games have come in under 7.5 runs and that's the line here. Yes, both rosters are loaded with incredibly big-league offensive players, but the league batting average is .243 because pitchers are wizards and the defense is as good as it has ever been. Keep in mind how many below-average pitchers contribute to the league-wide stat line and how only the very best pitchers will appear in this game. It is so hard to get hits against elite-level pitching and that's all the players are going to see in this game. 

Not only that, but pitchers progressively get worse the more times they face a lineup in any given game. None of them will see any hitter twice in this game, which means it's a major advantage for the pitchers on top of already being amazing. There will be a decent number of matchups where the hitters have never seen the pitchers and that is, again, an advantage for the pitchers with great stuff. 

Expect a low-scoring affair. We'll see a home run or two, but won't see many, if any, rallies where three or more hits are strung together.

MVP: Elly De La Cruz, +2200

I'm expecting a low-scoring affair and I have the NL, so I need to pick someone fun. Who is more fun than De La Cruz? I could see a situation where he drives home a run with a single and then steals second and third before coming home on another hit or something and that would be fun enough to land him the award, so let's run with it. Elly to win it! 

Let's finish with a fun one. 

Paul Skenes exacta strikeouts

Can you guess exactly how many strikeouts Skenes records? 

  • Zero strikeouts, +205
  • One strikeout, +130
  • Two strikeouts, +225
  • Three or more strikeouts, +525

Skenes is a strikeout artist and these AL players haven't seen him yet, which bodes well for his chances to strike out any given hitter. Leadoff man Steven Kwan is very difficult to strikeout, however. Wait, what am I doing? Why the earnest analysis? Let's just have fun and guess. 

I'm running with three strikeouts because that would be incredibly fun and it's huge plus money.