Daily Market Trends: Rivalry Kicks Off Independence Day Weekend

Moving Today's Market

The Red Sox @ Yankees series is the big battle heading into the weekend. Boston is coming off being swept by the AL East leading Rays, and they hope Jon Lester (6-3, 3.48 ERA) can return them to winning ways.

Andy Pettite (9-5, 3.98 ERA) starts for the Yankees, who are coming off an offensive explosion of 18 runs against Texas yesterday.

Oakland’s surprising AL ERA leader Justin Duchscherer (8-5, 1.91 ERA) looks to shut down the hot bats of the White Sox, who have scored fewer than five runs only once in their last six games. Bets are pretty evenly split, but the money is favoring Chicago and Javier Vazquez (7-6, 4.49 ERA).

San Francisco’s NL Cy Young hopeful Tim Lincecum (9-1, 2.38 ERA) faces the NL Central leading Cubs and Sean Gallagher (3-3, 4.36 ERA). The bets and money are keeping this game pretty static across the board.

There’s also a nice pitching match up in the NL East battle between Philadelphia and Atlanta. Phillies ace Cole Hamels (8-5, 3.38 ERA) squares off against surprising youngster Jair Jurrjens (8-3, 2.94 ERA). The Braves are getting almost 60% of the bets, but the money is with the Phillies, as the Braves have moved from a -105 opening to +105 at Cris.

Key Injury Updates

Player	Team	Injury	Status	Comments
Carlos Zambrano	CHC (SP)	Shoulder	Returning from DL	Felt fine after a bullpen session and is set to start on Friday.
Ryan Braun	MIL (3B)	Rest	Questionable	Braun, mired in a slump, is being given Thursday off to rest.
Michael Young	TEX (SS)	Groin	Questionable	Young is recovering from a mild left groin strain, and is questionable for Friday.
Rafael Furcal	LAD (SS)	Back	15-day-DL	Furcal is already on the DL, but underwent further back surgery. He is expected to miss at least another 8 weeks.

Key Market Moves

It’s been a slow day for Steam Moves and Smart Money bets with most of the American League and some of the National League teams traveling. A couple of teams were triggered twice for Smart Money bets. The Royal and Nationals each received two Smart Money alerts, and each received one from Trade Sports, which has a +12.52 units won.

Today’s Best Bets

Check out today’s Best Bets! 

Tomorrow's Market Movers

There's a full slate of MLB action on Independence Day. The staggered schedule will allow you to grill some hot dogs and burgers, drink a cold one, and watch baseball all day long. Some old-school rivalries are on the docket, including Red Sox-Yankees, Cubs-Cardinals, and Dodgers-Giants.

A few clubs have their aces taking the mound tomorrow as well. Johan Santana, Josh Beckett, Carlos Zambrano, Tim Hudson, and Dan Haren are all scheduled to toe the rubber.