The best of the best in Major League Baseball will take center stage this Tuesday night when the American League squares off against the National League in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York. Tuesday night’s Mid-Summer Classic is set to get underway at 8 p.m. (ET), and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX.

From 1997 to 2009, the American League owned this series with a record of 12-0-1, but it comes into this year’s game riding a three-game losing streak in which it has only managed to score a total of three runs.

The National League, on the other hand, has hammered out a total of 16 runs during this three-game winning streak. Last year the NL blanked the AL 8-0 with San Francisco’s Matt Cain getting the win and Detroit’s Justin Verlander getting tagged with the loss.                                 

American League vs. National League Betting Storylines

The AL brings a ton of hitting power into this year’s contest to try and end this losing streak. Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera leads the way with a MLB-best .365 batting average and 95 RBI. The AL also has the league’s leader in home runs in Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis. He has already belted 37 homers heading into the all-star break. Some of the other standouts in the starting lineup include Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout, Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer and Boston’s David Ortiz as a designated hitter.

The AL roster is also loaded with talent as far as pitching goes. However, Verlander, Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma and Oakland’s Bartolo Colon will be unavailable for Tuesday’s night after starting for their team this past Sunday. One pitcher that will be on the mound for the AL is the Tigers’ Max Scherzer, who leads the Majors along with Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore in wins with 13. The AL will also have the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez, who boasts the lowest ERA on the roster at 2.53.

The NL will try and extend its winning streak to four games behind the likes of St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina and outfielder Carlos Beltran. Molina has the best batting average in the NL at .341, and Beltran has hit 19 home runs while driving in 53 runs. Some of the other starters for the NL include first baseman Joey Votto and second baseman Brandon Phillips from Cincinnati and the Mets’ third baseman David Wright. Washington outfielder Bryce Harper will also be in the starting line-up.

A couple of the top arms set to see action for the National League are Arizona’s Patrick Corbin and Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw. Corbin has posted 11 wins on the year, and Kershaw comes in with a MLB-best 1.98 ERA. Also available will be home-town favorite Matt Harvey of the Mets. Pittsburgh starter Jeff Locke and the Nationals’ Jordan Zimmermann have been scratched due to minor injuries, and the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright will not be available after pitching this past Sunday.

American League vs. National League Betting Odds and Trends

BetOnline has opened the AL as a +110 road underdogs for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game with NL listed as a -127 home favorite. The total has been set at 8.

The NL opened as a 130 favorite with the total set at 8.5, but early money on the AL and the “under” have driven both of these numbers down a bit. Look for this trend to continue as we get closer to Tuesday night.

2013 MLB All-Star Game Picks and Betting Predictions

Winning streaks have been the norm in this series over the past 15 years or so. However, looking at the AL’s edge in talent both at the plate and on the mound this time around has it primed to make the NL’s current streak short-lived with the win in this year’s Mid-Summer Classic.

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