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.

Live on ESPN, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays complete a brief two-game series on Wednesday night at 8:05 PM EST. The Red Sox will have to avoid looking ahead since they begin a four-game series against the Yankees tomorrow. The matchup on Wednesday is ESPN’s feature game and has Brad Penny facing David Price. Penny is 7-5 with a 5.07 ERA while Price is 4-4 with a 5.10 ERA. SBG Global Sportsbook reports that the early MLB sports wagering sees the public taking the Red Sox on the road as +132 underdogs with a total 9.5 over -120.

Penny was shelled for seven earned runs last week against Oakland in just five innings. He has not pitched well in his career against the Rays going 2-3 with a 5.06 ERA. Price was good in his last start against Kansas City and he has been very good at home this season going 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA.

One hitter that Price didn’t see last time he faced Boston was Victor Martinez. The Red Sox picked up him in a trade with Cleveland and he is already making a huge difference for Boston. "One hitter can make a lot of difference. He’s a switch-hitter. I know we’ve had our struggles offensively.” Manager Terry Francona said, “We like our hitters. But this will certainly help our lineup."

The Red Sox are simply a much better team with Victor Martinez in the starting lineup. "We still have to go out there and win ballgames, but on paper, I think it makes us a much better team," Boston’s Jason Bay said.

Take a look at the baseball wagering lines stats for tonight’s game. The Red Sox are 5-2 in their last 7 games as an underdog. The Red Sox are 21-10 in their last 31 games vs. a left-handed starter. The Red Sox are 2-6 in Penny’s last 8 road starts. The Rays are 5-1 in Price’s last 6 home starts. The Red Sox are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Tampa Bay. The Under is 6-2 in the Red Sox last 8 games vs. a left-handed starter. The Under is 8-3 in Penny’s last 11 starts overall. The Under is 26-8-2 in Ray’s last 36 games vs. a right-handed starter.

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.