August ushers in the dog days of summer, soaring temperatures and truly meaningful baseball games…finally. Sports bettors have been focused on baseball for months, as the daily baseball wagering lines have bettors grinding out the long season. But now the heat gets really turned up, as teams, fans and bettors begin to get serious. With the stretch drive on the horizon, these wins and losses have real implications for many teams. The Division and Wild-Card races are on.

The AL East, as usual, demands a ton of attention. Currently it looks like business as usual with the New York Yankees leading the division and the Boston Red Sox trying to chase them down (2.5-games back). Online sportsbook SportsBetting.com has the Yankees listed as the odds-on faves to win the division, pegged at -125, while the BoSox are +100 to do the same.

Guess which two teams start a four-game series?

Red Sox at Yankees:

Going into the opener at Yankee Stadium tonight, the hometown Yanks are listed at -175 while the visiting Boston Red Sox are +155 underdogs—the Total is set at 10.

Despite the AL East lead, the Yanks have struggled against the BoSox recently. In the last nine games overall between the two, the Yanks have yet to win, going 0-9 straight up. Total bettors take note as these two have combined for a mark of 1 over, 6 unders and 2 pushes in those nine games. The Yanks’ last 10 home games against Boston haven’t gone well either as they are 3-7 SU.

The Red Sox send veteran John Smoltz to the mound. Boston has not fared well in Smoltz’s starts, going 2-5 when he has taken the mound to start a game. The same can’t be said for the Yanks, who have Joba Chamberlain going for them. In his last nine home starts, the Yanks are an impressive 8-1 and 4-0 in his last four starts.

Early betting action has tilted to the Yankees, as SportsBetting.com is reporting 71% of all the action on New York.

Baseball’s best road team faces the league’s best home team as the Philadelphia Phillies are at the San Francisco Giants on Thursday at 10:15 PM EST. Rodrigo Lopez is set to go for the Phillies while the Giants counter with Jonathan Sanchez. SBG Global reports that early MLB wagering lines sees the public taking the Phillies on the road as a -112 favorite with a total 8.5 over -120.

After losing the the first two games, the New York Mets will try and salvage their 3-game series against the Philadelphia today at 1:35 PM EST live on Fox. The Mets had a lot of trouble this season but they are still right with the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. While the Mets have gotten much of the attention for their struggles, the Phillies haven’t played much better. "I just see the struggles, and say, ‘Hey, OK. We still got a shot,’" New York manager Jerry Manuel said. "We lost a lot of games in that month of June and still somehow remain to have a shot." The Phillies have the home field advantage against the Mets on Saturday but the Phillies have been terrible at home this season. The Sports Wagering Lines at SBG Global Sportsbook have the Phillies as a -112 favorite at home with a 8.5 over +100.

The Mets have gotten some good play of late from Ryan Church. "Things start going well when I start going the other way," Church said. "I’m confident every day. It felt good to get that [Milwaukee win] in, get that ‘W’ and get off that five-game losing streak." Another player that has helped pick up the slack with Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado out of the lineup is Nick Evans. "He’s a dangerous guy, a very dangerous guy," Manuel said. "Being one of those young guys who can get hot, obviously with a little power — whether it’s a double, home run — it would really be big for us. It would really take some pressure off of some of the other guys that play every day."

The Mets go with Fernando Nieve on Saturday. He is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA this season. Jamie Moyer gets the start for the Phillies. Moyer is 6-6 with a 6.05 ERA. Nieve didn’t make it out of the fourth inning in his last start, losing for the first time this season. Moyer continues to get hit hard but has a .500 record this season. He got the win against Toronto in his last start even though he gave up four runs in five innings.

Take a look at the MLB Baseball Wagering stats for Saturday’s game. The Mets are 1-4 in their last 5 Saturday games. The Phillies are 5-16 in their last 21 home games vs. a right-handed starter. The Phillies are 32-11 in Moyer’s last 43 starts vs. the National League East. The Phillies are 4-1 in Moyer’s last 5 starts vs. the Mets. The Under is 4-1 in the Mets last 5 road games vs. a left-handed starter. The Under is 7-1 in Moyer’s last 8 starts overall. The Under is 9-4 in Moyer’s last 13 starts vs. the Mets.