Major League Baseball reaches its halfway point of the 2009 season this weekend, and with the 4th of July holiday upon us, the sport will celebrate our Independence with a full slate of games. While the action doesn’t match any division leaders, or current playoff teams versus one another, there are still several intriguing series’ in which chasing clubs will be trying to make up key ground in various races. We’ll look a bit closer at some of those pairings. All three days this weekend will offer numerous baseball betting opportunities, so get prepared by utilizing our weekly Top StatFox Power Trends feature. You’ll find that at the conclusion of this piece. Good luck.

In the American League, two key series’ will garner most of the attention. In Minnesota, the Twins host the Tigers for three games, hoping to close the 3-game gap separating the clubs in the A.L. Central Division. As usual, the Twins gained some momentum by breezing through the N.L. in Interleague play, going 12-6. They will look to pick up where they left off back in mid-May against Detroit, when they swept the Tigers in three games. The current Central leaders are struggling a bit offensively, having topped the 5-run mark just four times in the last 20 games.

The other key A.L. series matches the Rays and Rangers from Arlington. Tampa bay, the defending A.L. champion, looked the part in a fabulous month of June, going 19-7 to move to 9-games over .500. However, the Rays still have a lot of ground to make up in the East Division, as Boston is setting a steady pace. The Rangers are still hanging around the top of the A.L. West and should get a huge boost this weekend with the expected return of Josh Hamilton to the lineup. Without him, they were 19-7 UNDER the total in June.

In the National League, the scuffling Cubs will continue a 4-game set against Milwaukee at Wrigley. In each of the past two years, Chicago used a home series around this time against the division-leading Brewers to build momentum. They will be looking for answers at the plate, as after leading the N.L. in runs scored in ’08, Chicago bats are hitting just .245 and producing just 4.15 runs per game. Milwaukee isn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard, but is getting a reliable effort from its rebuilt bullpen. The Brewers have been solid on the road this season, and boasted a 21-10 record against divisional foes heading into Thursday’s series opener.

The other key series to keep an eye on is in Philadelphia, where the Phillies welcome divisional rival New York for 3-games. The Mets have floundered without three of their biggest bats in the lineup and were just 9-18 in the month of June, yet because Philly hasn’t played well either, remain in striking distance. The Phillies will be looking to re-establish some home field advantage, as they have been horrific for bettors as hosts, going 13-22 while losing 17.9 units to date. The Mets own a 3-2 lead in the season series.

There’s other great action on the diamond to choose from as well. Be sure to take advantage of all the great info StatFox has on its FREE Matchup pages, then when you’re ready to take that next step toward baseball betting stardom, head over to the FoxSheets and put trends like these to work for you everyday:

MILWAUKEE at CHICAGO CUBS