It's the final weekend of Major League Baseball before the regular season goes dark four days for next week's All-Star Game activities in Kansas City. The book will have plenty of live play-by-play betting options for players this weekend.

Get all your MLB props at Bovada's online sportsbook. Don't have a Bovada account? Join NOW.

Advertisement

On Thursday, Bovada will offer the series finale of the Phillies-Mets in the National League and the series opener between the Orioles-Angels in the Junior Circuit. It's one of the best pitching matchups of the season so far between Philadelphia's Cole Hamels (10-4, 3.08) and Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (12-1, 2.15). Because both are pitching Thursday, they would be on normal rest for Tuesday's All-Star Game and both certainly could start the game, although it seems like NL manager Tony La Russa would have to pick Dickey, one of the biggest surprises in baseball (La Russa will announce Monday). Dickey either leads the NL or is among the Top 3 in wins, ERA, strikeouts, complete games and WHIP. In June, he went 5-0 with a 0.93 ERA, three complete games and two shutouts. He's your Cy Young favorite right now.

The Mets will be favored Thursday as Dickey is 6-0 at home with a 1.85 ERA. Hamels, meanwhile, has slightly worse numbers away from home - 5-1 with a 3.49 ERA - but is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA vs. the Mets this year. It's possible that Thursday could be one of Hamels' final few starts in a Phillies uniform with him rumored to be the biggest name available on the trading block.

On Friday, the opener of the most-hyped rivalry in baseball, Yankees-Red Sox, and Game 2 of Orioles-Angels will be featured at the book. The Yanks are making a mockery of the AL East, while Boston is starting to get near the top of the wild-card mix. New York and Boston have only met for two games so far in 2012 and neither was close with the Yankees winning 6-2 on April 20 and 15-9 the next day in Fenway (the opener came on the 100th anniversary of the first game at Fenway). The third game of the series was postponed.

Because of that postponement, the Yanks and Sox will play a day-night doubleheader on Saturday and the book will have live betting on the night game as well as Orioles-Angels again.

On Sunday, the finale of Yankees-Red Sox, the Sunday night ESPN national TV game, will have live betting, as will Cubs-Mets, Dodgers-Diamondbacks and Reds-Padres. It used to be that pitchers who started on Sundays couldn't then turn around and pitch in the All-Star Game two days later. But a new rule this year allows pitchers who start the Sunday before to throw on a pitch count in the ASG if they choose.

Speaking of the All-Star Game, the book already has odds up on Monday's Home Run Derby. Toronto's Jose Bautista led the majors with 54 homers in the 2010 regular season and 43 last year. The slugger is leading baseball again this season with 27 entering Wednesday, so naturally he is the 7/2 favorite at the book to win the Derby. Bautista was knocked out in the first round in last year's Derby after just four homers.

Miami's Giancarlo Stanton, in his first Derby, is the second-favorite at 4/1, followed by 2009 Derby winner Prince Fielder at 5/1. Could the Yankees' Robinson Cano (the AL captain) become the first player since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998-99 to repeat as the Derby winner? Cano, who slugged 32 total homers last year, is at 5/1 along with the Cardinals' Carlos Beltran. The Angels' Mark Trumbo (6/1), Dodgers' Matt Kemp (6/1, the NL captain) and Rockies' Carlos Gonzalez (13/2) round out the field.

Armed and ready. Bet on MLB at Bovada Sportsbook.