Oddsmakers are banking on the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals to represent the National League in the World Series.
Entering July, the Cardinals and Nationals own the best odds to win the National League pennant, according to Oddsshark. St. Louis holds a slight edge at 7/2 over the Nationals at 15/4. The Cardinals have the best record in Major League Baseball at 51-26 and have the biggest division lead at seven games.
The Nationals actually have a worse record than the second place team in the National League Central Division, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Washington is 43-35 and up by 3.5 games over the New York Mets, while the Pirates are 44-33.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have continually seen its NL pennant odds dwindle and that trend has continued. The Dodgers lead the NL West, but entered the month with a 2.5-game lead over the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers still have the third-best odds to win the pennant at 4/1, but those are worse than the mid-June report of 13/4 odds.
The Dodgers also are no longer the favorites to win the World Series. Los Angeles is tied with the Kansas City Royals at 8/1 odds to win the title, down from the 6/1 odds it had just two weeks ago.
St. Louis and Washington are now the favorites at 7/1. Oddsmakers are still depending on the National League to win the title, with St. Louis, Washington, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and the Chicago Cubs with odds at or better than the teams with the second-best odds from the American League. The Giants are 10/1 odds, while the Pirates are 14/1 and the Cubs are 16/1.
As top-heavy as the National League, it is equally as bad on the bottom. Philadelphia and Milwaukee are 1,000/1 odds to win the World Series, while the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies have worse odds to win the title than the Chicago White Sox, which has the worst odds in the American League.
Teams that are still in the mix for the National League pennant are the Giants at 5/1, Pirates at 13/2, Cubs at 15/2, the New York Mets at 11/1 and the San Diego Padres at 18/1.
