It all started in October 1969 when the Miracle
Mets shocked the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Since then, the Orioles have had nothing but
trouble when facing New York
teams on a baseball diamond.
The New York Mets look to continue their overall supremacy
of the Orioles on Wednesday night and pull off a series sweep in the process as
the two clubs conclude a 3-game set at Citi Field. It could be an embarrassing sweep for
Baltimore who have not scored a run in the first two games, losing each by 5-0
counts. R.A. Dickey got things going for
the Mets on Monday with his second consecutive 1-hitter as -150 chalk on the
MLB odds, and Johan Santana, with a little help from his bullpen, continued things
Tuesday on a -145 moneyline.
Tuesday's triumph marked the fifth straight against the O's
for the Mets, and they look to make it six on Wednesday as -125 favorites
behind Dillon Gee. Baltimore counters
with lefthander Brian Matusz and the 8.5 run total is priced 20 cents to the
UNDER.
Baltimore had been playing
well before arriving in Queens this week. In fact, Orioles pitchers posted back-to-back
shutouts of their own in Atlanta
last weekend to wrap up a series with the Braves and make it seven wins in
eight games. The stumble at Citi Field
hasn't cost the O's too much in the standings as they head into Wednesday's
contest 2.5 games behind the Yankees in second place of the AL East. And Buck Showalter's squad is still on top of
the wagering column for baseball bettors with 17.4 units of profit this year.
Matusz will be making his fourth consecutive start on the
road, and fourth against a staunch opponent after facing the Rays, Red Sox and
Braves in his previous three assignments. The lefty out of the University
of San Diego pitched very well against
Tampa Bay,
but was knocked about by Boston and Atlanta to the tune
of 13 hits, eight walks and nine runs (8
earned) in 7.2 innings.
He has faced the Mets once before in Baltimore a little more than two years ago,
and pitched well despite taking the loss (8 IP, 3 ER). One stat in Matusz's favor is New York's poor 8-15
record against southpaws in 2012.
The Mets are also sitting in second place of the NL East and
closing on the struggling Washington Nationals whose lead has dwindled to three
games. Bettors have reaped a 10.1 unit
return backing Terry Collins' crew, fourth-best in the majors.
Gee has strung together six quality starts, yet the Mets
have still managed to lose his last four trips to the hill and are just 5-8
behind the Texan on the season. He's
been the favorite just twice in 2012, with another start in a game that was a
pick on the baseball betting board, and those backing Gee are down 1.2 units.
One trend that has been profitable in games Gee starts is
the OVER. New York is 39-27-3 going above the total on
the campaign, and a big chunk of those winning OVER wagers have come in Gee's
assignments (10-2-1).
The weatherman is forecasting a warm and muggy day for the
Big Apple with first-pitch temps dropping just into the upper-80s. The slight WSW wind will assist fly balls
heading to right field. Tim Timmons
should be calling that first pitch, and his season stats include a 7-7 split
home-away and 6-7-1 O/U/P on the totals with the last five all skipping above
the number.
Taking a Chance: The Mets
were favored by about a nickel more on the opening number before it came down a
bit overnight. It's always difficult to sweep another team, and the Orioles
have managed to avoid brooms in all but two of their series this season, one of
those at the hands of their other Big Apple nemesis from the Bronx.
Still, it is difficult to forecast a breaking-out party for Baltimore bats; the
Orioles have scored just nine runs on this current road trip which can be
partially explained by not having the DH in the NL parks.
We will ride the Mets'
dominance of Baltimore
one more game. My pick is New York -125.