The New York Mets took the first game of an
interleague series vs. Tampa Bay Tuesday night, and then took the second game, 9-1, yesterday. Johan Santana leads them today in pursuit of a sweep. Jeremy Hellickson pitches for the Rays.
Mets vs. Rays Series
Set-Up
The Mets took the opener of this series Tuesday night 11-2,
putting the game away with a six-run seventh. New York's Chris Young, making
his second start of the season, gave up two runs in the first inning but then
pitched into the sixth without allowing anything else.
The Mets won Tuesday as +155 underdogs on the MLB betting
line, and the game played OVER its total of eight.
Coming into this series the Mets had just gotten swept three
games by the Yankees, while Tampa had just swept three games in Miami.
So the Mets, at 33-29, are in third place in the NL East,
five games back of the division-leading Washington Nationals, while the Rays,
at 35-26, now sit in second place in the AL East, a game behind the
division-leading Yanks.
Thursday's Pitching Matchup
Johan Santana (3-3, 2.96) will start this series finale Thursday (1:10 E) for the Mets vs. Jeremy Hellickson (4-2, 2.65) for the Rays.
Santana followed up his no-hit effort of two Fridays ago by getting bombed by the Yankees for six runs and four homers in five innings last Friday. He is now six-for-12 on quality starts this season, and New York is 6-6 in his starts.
For the season Santana has allowed just 56 hits in 73 innings, walked 22 and struck out 73.
Hellickson is seven-for-12 on quality starts this season, and Tampa is 7-5 when he's started. His last outing, though, was a little rough; while he gave up just one run he only went 4 1/3 innings because he walked seven guys. But before that he had strung together four QS in a row.
For the season Hellickson has given up 66 hits in 75 innings, and owns a 52/29 K/BB ratio.
Despite having the lost the first two games of the series, Tampa Bay is still favored by MLB odds makers to the tune of -129. The total remains at 7.5
Mets vs. Rays Free MLB Pick for Thursday
Santana got rocked his last time out, but we expect a bounce-back performance. So we'll add the Mets to our list of free MLB picks for Thursday.
Wednesday's Pitching
Match-Up
Baseball fans get a very interesting pitching matchup
Wednesday (7:10 pm Eastern) as RA Dickey (9-1, 2.44) goes for NY against David
Price (8-3, 2.40) for TB.
Dickey, closing in on a berth on the NL All-Star pitching
staff, is nine-for-12 on quality starts this year, and the Mets are 10-2 in his
starts. Dickey is on a nasty roll; in his last outing he threw 7 1/3 scoreless
innings vs. Washington, and over his last three starts he has not allowed an
earned run through 23 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out 27. On the
season Dickey has allowed 65 hits in 81 innings, walked 19 and whiffed 78.
Has a knuckleballer ever won a Cy Young Award?
On the other side of this matchup Price is also nine-for-12
in quality starts this year, and the Rays are 8-4 in his starts. In his latest
outing Price gave up one run on three hits in five innings in beating the
Yankees, although it took him 109 pitches to get that far.
Over his last four starts Price has allowed just three ER on
21 hits in 26 1/3 innings. So on the season the big lefty has given up 69 hits
in 79 innings, and owns a 70/27 strikeouts-to-walks ratio.
Mets vs. Rays
Wednesday Betting Lines and Trends
Most baseball odds makers are listing Tampa as favorites of
around -155 for Wednesday's game, with an OVER/UNDER of seven.
The Rays can also be found at around +145 on the run line at
some baseball betting shops.
Early public betting action on the side on this game is
split almost right down the middle, while action on the total has leaned
slightly toward the OVER.
The Mets are four games over .500 overall, but 7-15 vs.
left-handed starters.
Mets vs. Rays Free
MLB Pick for Wednesday
While we absolutely love what Dickey has been doing this
year, we wonder how his knuckleball will react inside the dome in St. Pete.
Also, the Mets have struggled against lefties this year. So while we're a bit surprised the line on Wednesday's game
is so high, we'll add Tampa to our list of free MLB picks for Wednesday.