William Contreras

CHICAGO (AP) William Contreras hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Wednesday. Blake Perkins singled leading off the ninth against H ctor Neris (8-3). Contreras put Milwaukee on top one out later when he lined a double to left-center, helping the NL Central leaders end a rough day on...

With Trevor Megill presumably unavailable for workload reasons after converting a pair of saves over the last three days, Payamps got the call to protect a one-run lead in the final frame after William Contreras put Milwaukee ahead in the top of the ninth. He struck out Christopher Morel and Dansby Swanson to open the frame before getting Mike Tauchman to fly out to preserve the victory.

Contreras came through with a clutch go-ahead double into the left-center field gap off Cubs closer Hector Neris, putting Milwaukee ahead for good in the top of the ninth inning. It was his 25th double of the year and made the difference in a rare low-scoring contest at historic Wrigley Field between the long-time rivals. The 26-year-old backstop has blossomed into arguably the top catcher in the entire fantasy landscape this season, batting .284 (113-for-398) with 65 runs scored, 11 homers, 57 RBI and five steals through 98 contests.

The All-Star festivities got underway Monday night with the Dodgers' Teoscar Hern ndez winning the Home Run Derby as a +1000 longshot - the sixth-longest odds of the eight contestants.Now it's time for the main event.The American League is a slight -120 favorite over the National League in the 2024 Midsummer Classic. Last year, the NL snapped a nine-game winless streak that dated back to 2013 with a 3-2 victory at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The AL will send the Orioles' Corbin Burnes to the mound to take on rookie sensation Paul Skenes, who will become the first rookie to start an All-Star Game since Hideo Nomo in 1995.Here are the starting lineups for both sides: American League National League LF - Steven Kwan (CLE) 2B - Ketel Marte (ARI) SS - Gunnar Henderson (BAL) DH - Shohei Ohtani (LAD) RF - Juan Soto (NYY) SS - Trea Turner (PHI) CF - Aaron Judge (NYY) 1B - Bryce Harper (PHI) DH - Yordan Alvarez (HOU) C - William Contreras (MIL) 3B - Jos Ram rez (CLE) RF - Christian Yelich (MIL) 1B - Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR) 3B - Alec Bohm (PHI) C - Adley Rutschman (BAL) CF - Teoscar Hern ndez (LAD) 2B - Marcus Semien (TEX) LF - Jurickson Profar (SD) Despite two loaded lineups and plenty of pop coming off the bench, All-Star Games were low-scoring in recent years. Six of the past seven games had fewer than 7.5 runs, the current betting total for Tuesday's game. The under is the slight favorite at -120.If you thought betting on the Home Run Derby was a crapshoot, how about the All-Star Game MVP?With limited at-bats, predicting which player will win the award is difficult. You're banking on a player to hit a key home run or cash in a few runners with a timely double. Good luck calling that. MVP odds Player Odds Shohei Ohtani +800 Aaron Judge +950 Bryce Harper +1000 Gunnar Henderson +1200 Juan Soto +1400 Trea Turner +1800 Yordan Alvarez +1800 Adley Rutschman +2000 Bobby Witt Jr. +2000 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. +2000 Christian Yelich +2500 Elly De La Cruz +2500 Jos Ram rez +2500 Ketel Marte +2500 William Contreras +2500 Odds via theScore Bet. Players above +2500 are not listed. Ohtani is the slight favorite over Judge, but it's evident given the condensed prices that oddsmakers have little idea who will win the award. If anything, backing a starter with longer odds, since they are likely to get two or maybe three at-bats, is the most valuable route to take.If you are thinking about backing a pitcher to win the award, keep in mind that only two pitchers (Shane Bieber in 2019 and Mariano Rivera in 2013) have earned the honor since 2000.Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

It's a defensible choice, though Shohei Ohtani is right there, and Trea Turner and Christian Walker also might have been better options. Marte will be followed by Ohtani, Turner, Bryce Harper, William Contreras, Yelich, Alex Bohm, Teoscar Hernandez and Jurickson Profar.