The halfway point of the Major League Baseball season also marks a sort of spiritual halfway mark to the summer.
As the MLB season resumes this weekend, sports fans and bettors begin to turn their attention to the upcoming football season. The NFL’s Hall of Fame Game is only three weeks away.
Until then, here are some online sports betting highlights for this weekend, including a thrilling set of championships on the lawn at Wimbledon:
Tennis
Wimbledon: The Championship Rounds
Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16 | ESPN
Tennis is giving the sports world a real treat this weekend, as the Final Four of the Wimbledon men’s singles tournament has absolutely delivered on star power.
The men’s semifinals include seven-time winner Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon’s great conqueror of the modern age. No one has won the tournament but Djokovic since 2017, and another championship this weekend will tie the Serbian with Roger Federer with eight titles apiece.
No men’s player has ever won on the London lawn more.
Djokovic is practically untouchable, which is why he’s such a big favorite in the tennis odds market. But the remaining players – No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, No. 3 Daniil Medvedev, and No. 8 Jannik Sinner – aren’t exactly amateurs. The final matches should be some of the best tennis the world has watched in years.
On the women’s side, No. 1 Iga Swiatek was bounced from the tournament in the quarterfinals earlier this week by Ukrainian wild card Elina Svitolina. So was reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, following a 2022 championship rematch with Tunisian Ons Jabeur.
Jabeur proceeded to knock out No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in Thursday’s semifinal match; a win over unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday would give Jabeur her first-ever Slam title.
Major League Baseball
Miami Marlins at Baltimore Orioles
Friday, July 14 through Sunday, July 16
Friday’s post-All-Star restart marks the beginning of the 2023 stretch run, as major league teams prepare for the final two-and-a-half months of regular-season baseball odds.
The schedule is loaded right from the jump, with this weekend’s series including Dodgers/Mets and Diamondbacks/Blue Jays. But it’s the upstart series between the Marlins (53-39) and Orioles (54-35) that might be the most intriguing of all.
Tampa Bay (58-35) and Atlanta (60-29) have led the American League and National League, respectively, for most of the season. Both have preposterous run differentials well north of 100 runs. Baltimore and Miami have been fighting uphill in their divisions all spring, hoping to stay ahead of Wild Card competitors in deep divisions.
For the Orioles, at least, the dam is finally beginning to crack. Tampa closed out the opening half of the season in poor form, squandering its once-giant lead that was built during its season-opening, 13-game winning streak.
Baltimore has winnowed the division lead to just two games. And while it’s unlikely to overtake the Rays this weekend – Tampa is in Kansas City (26-65) – Baltimore can keep pace with a successful weekend against the underrated Marlins.
Miami, for its part, needs to keep winning to fend off the surging Phillies (48-41) in the NL East.
Golf
Genesis Scottish Open
Thursday, July 13 through Sunday, July 16 | ESPN+
This weekend, the golf betting calendar includes both the Genesis Scottish Open and the Barbasol Championship.
Of the two, the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, outside of Edinburgh, features the more interesting field of competitors.
Xander Schauffele (+1400) is the returning champion and has attracted about 3.5% of championship bets at BetMGM; however, hot commodities like Scottie Scheffler (+700) and Rory McIlroy (+900) spent the week as the top favorites.
No one attracted more tickets or overall market handle at BetMGM than Tommy Fleetwood (+2200), who accounted for more than 10% of the money bet on the Scottish Open championship on Wednesday morning.