The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds are still in contention for the NL Central crown as well, but the Brewers and Cardinals have been playing like the division's cream of the crop lately and look set to battle for the title down the stretch.

Monday's series opener is expected to be a matchup between St. Louis' Chris Carpenter (6-7, 3.68 ERA) and Milwaukee's Zack Greinke (8-4, 4.50 ERA), with updated MLB lines on the contest available at the Bodog Sportsbook.

Righthander Greinke picked up his first win in over a month last time out, holding the Cubs scoreless on three hits over 6 2-3 innings of work while fanning nine batters. Greinke had been 0-2 with three no-decisions over his past five outings.

Back on June 11 Greinke took to the mound against the Cardinals in Milwaukee and came out on top, allowing three runs over his seven innings pitched while striking out nine batters.

Carpenter will be looking to get his team off on the right foot on Monday, and the Cardinals are 6-1 against the MLB betting odds in his last seven trips to the mound. That loss, though, came last time out against the Astros (two runs in seven innings).

The veteran righthander was Greinke's opponent on the mound on June 11, taking the loss that day after getting roughed up for five runs over his six innings of work.

With baseball's non-waiver trade deadline having passed it's a good time to check out the updated World Series futures at the Bodog Sportsbook, including fresh title odds for the Cardinals and Brewers as they do battle this week.

Get all your MLB odds at Bodog