By Jason Crowe for Steve Merril Sports

It’s hard to remember a 4th of July without fireworks, hot dogs, a few beers and great baseball. A few of the notable series this weekend include a matchup between the two teams battling for the NL Central lead, Cubs @ Cardinals; AL East rivals, Red Sox @ Yankees; and the surprising Rays (I think taking the preceding Devil out of the name has made all the difference this year) at home against the fading Royals as they try to expand their 3 game lead in the AL East.

Friday, July 4th - Red Sox @ Yankees

Both of these AL East perennial powers started the series in a rare position, chasing a team (for the first time in a long time, not each other) for the lead division. The Rays are 3 up on the defending World Series Champ and 8 games ahead of the Yankees.

The Red Sox try to turn things around with another win Friday, after an impressive 7-0 underdog win on Thursday in Yankee Stadium. They send Josh Beckett to the mound with a 2.78 ERA over his last 7 starts and the confidence of a strong outing in his appearance against the Yankees earlier this season, where he pitched a solid 6.7 innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 BB, and 3 earned runs.

The Yankee’s send struggling Darrell Rasner to the hill in what will be the last July 4th game ever played in Yankee Stadium. After a 3-0 start, Rasner has fell to the waste-side as of late. Rasner is 1-6 in his last 7 starts, and has an 8.19 ERA and 2.09 WHIP over his last 4 outings.

This heated series find two teams not in top form as the Yankees’ offense has scored over 3 runs in just 1 of their last 6 games (an 18 run performance against the Rangers Wednesday night) and the Red Sox bullpen has been disappointing, to say the least, as of late.

Saturday, July 5th - Cubs @ Cardinals

The Cardinals start this series 2 games back of the Cubs in NL Central as they try to improve on their 25-18 home record. Struggling of late, having allowed at least 6 runs in 5 of their last 8 games, the Cardinals begin this three game set with Kyle Lohse on the mound, who has lead the Cardinals to 8 wins in his last 9 appearances. Lohse has allowed more than 3 earned runs just one of his past 9 outings, and has a 1.00 WHIP during this stretch. With 8 pitchers on the DL, the Cardinals will depend on Lohse to provide for extended work in this one.

The Cubs respond with Ted Lilly, who has also been strong as of late. Lilly has led the Cubs to 5 straight victories and wins in 8 of his last 10 appearances. Lilly's enters with a 4.50 ERA for the season and has a record of 9-5. However, he does hold the confidence of a win in this same pitching matchup that took place earlier this year, on May 3rd in St. Louis.

The Cubs hope the return of Aramis Ramirez will spark there offense and help bring them out of their current road slump (2-4 so far on this road trip) and the Cardinals look to gain ground in NL Central in this weekend series.

Additional series of interest

A few other series to keep an eye on this holiday weekend include the recently hot Phillies, winners of 3 in a row and 4 of their last 5, as they look to distance themselves from the Mets in the NL East in a four game set at home.

The Devil Rays were 200-1 to win the World Series when the season began and they now find themselves in 1st place. The Rays look to stay hot at home in a series against the slumping Royals.

The Total looks to provide some value in Anaheim as the Angels host the Blue Jays. The two teams have a combined 62-97-12 Over/Under record entering the series.

Jason Crowe is a private sports analyst that specializes in MLB handicapping.

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