The Dogs days of summer are upon us as we enter the first week of August, as we scour the various angles and trends to get that edge in the final two months of baseball, we come across an often unexplored series angle. The Rubber game, which for those who don't know is the final game of a 3 game series in which the first two games were split. We will provide records for all 30 teams in this vital category through August first and even share a long term 100% Road rubber series angle that goes back to the inception of Inter league play. In our first part of the road rubber series break down we will examine the records of the Divisions in this category and then give the records for each team. In the American League the East and the Central divisions are basically tied with the best records. The Central is 15-9 overall, while the East checks in at 16-10. The Division with the next best record is the American League West at 13-10. In the National league every division is under .500. The NL Central with perhaps the most parity in baseball has an overall 18-19 record, the the East at 19-23 and finally the West at 12-17. As we can see by the study the American League is much tougher in these road games going a combined 15 games over .500, while the National league combined is a dismal 10 games under.500. Our big winners in this category are the Pittsburgh Pirates at 6-0 followed by the Boston Red sox at 5-0. Our two biggest money burners are the Milwaukee Brewers at 0-6 and the Washington Nationals at 2-7. The American League East has Boston at 5-0, the Yankees at 4-2, Tampa at 5-1, Toronto at 1-4 and Baltimore at 1-3. In the American League Central the Chicago White sox are 5-1 followed by Detroit at 2-2, the KC Royals at 5-3 and Cleveland at 2-2 and the Twins rounding things out at 1-3. Ironically the Twins have played more two and four game road series than any other team. Going out West we see the LA. Angels are a solid 7-2 and 4-0 most recently, then we have Seattle with just 1 application at 1-0 and Oakland at 3-3- having lost the last 2 times in this role. Oddly a good team like Texas is 2-5 in road rubbers. In the National League Central the Pirates as previously mentioned are an unexpected 6-0 and lead the National League with the best record. Winding out the Central we see the Cardinals at a solid 6-2, followed by the Reds at 3-3, Houston at 1-3 and mediocre Milwaukee at 0-6. Jumping ahead to the National League East the Phillies are 5-3 and have won their last two. The Braves are 3-5, however they have lost the last 5 times in this scenario. The Other New York team, the Mets are 5-6 with the most occurrences of any team. Florida checks in at 4-2 and Washington a disappointing 2-7, having lost 6 of the last 7 times. Finally we head out West where we have the Giants at 2-1, San Diego at 4-3, Arizona at 2-3 and lastly the Dodgers who have struggled at 3-6 having lost the last 4 times. Since the inception of Inter league play the New York Mets are 0-10 in the rubber game of a road series vs the Yankees. In closing this angle is one to keep an eye on and incorporate into other aspects of your Baseball handicapping agenda. Those of us who have a Yearn to earn will see how these road rubber teams do when coming off either a loss or win and with a home or away game up next and really tighten up the team angles. I hope you all enjoyed this piece. Use it well and reap the rewards. Good luck on all your future wagers and endeavors. RV. Rob Vinciletti is the Founder of Golden Contender Sports. He is tearing up bases once again this season with his exclusive Diamond cutter systems. In football Rob was documented at 24 games over .500 in college and NFL Football combined. You can check back daily to receive free picks from Rob and get an additional free play on Monday nights on his radio segment at 8.05 eastern where you can listen online at 88.9 wsia.fm. Best of luck to all we move closer to another big MLB Post season and the arrival of football. RV