The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 in Game 1 of their series. Tonight Kyle McClellan looks to tie the series and keep the St. Louis Cardinals in the thick of the NL Central race when he takes the mound Tuesday in the second game of a series with the New York Mets.
ESPN's cameras will be on hand for the prime-time telecast
(7:00 PM ET) that finds New York
knuckleballer R.A. Dickey opposing McClellan. Early morning MLB odds have the Mets slight favorites around -110 at
most MLB books with an 8.5-run total.
Mets take Game 1
Tuesday's series opener went New York's way by a 4-2 count in a game that
saw the line shift from the Mets the small MLB betting favorite at the outset before
closing with the Cards drawing light chalk. The victory lifted New York to .500 on
the season (48-48), 12 games back of the Phillies in the NL East, and dropped St. Louis to third in the
NL Central (50-46), 1.5 games behind the Pirates.
Adding to the thrill of victory for the Mets was the return
of stars Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran following injury stints. The pair combined for five hits and a pair of
runs in Tuesday's win.
McClellan & the Cardinals
It has been nearly two weeks since McClellan (6-6, 4.24)
last experienced game action, and the result was the 5th-straight defeat on his
personal ledger in a 4-1 home loss to the Diamondbacks. The righthander was a -130 favorite in the
contest and it marked the sixth start in a row for McClellan that ended in a
Cardinals defeat after St. Louis
won eight of his first nine.
That early streak for McClellan and the Cards doesn't
include his lone relief appearance of the season on April 22. With rain falling, St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa opted to go
with Miguel Batista to begin that game. Batista only faced one batter before
umpires halted the proceedings with McClellan taking the mound after the delay
and throwing six innings.
A converted reliever, this will be his first career start
vs. the Mets. McClellan came out of the 'pen eight times the previous three
seasons against New York, fashioning a 0.93 ERA in 9.2 innings with Met hitters
batting just a buck ninety-four.
Dickey & the Mets
Dickey (4-8, 3.70) will be out for his first win of the
month despite a decent 3.32 ERA in three July starts. He took the loss at home last Friday to the
Phillies as an even-money underdog, allowing four runs over seven innings in a
7-2 defeat.
The former Tennessee Vol star will also be looking to repeat
his most recent performance against the Redbirds, a start here at Citi Field
just less than a year ago when he came up two outs shy of a complete game
shutout. A -145 MLB money line favorite
in that July 29, 2010 game, Dickey needed 9th-inning help to complete the 4-0 New York triumph.
An underdog in each of his last six assignments, this will
be the first time Dickey has been the favorite or a pick since a June 11
appearance at Pittsburgh.
In his eight games as the favorite or pick this year, the Mets are 1-7 and down
7.75 units.
Wednesday night's forecast for Queens looks fine with
a game-time temp in the low 80s, mostly clear skies and a SSW wind around 10
mph blowing out to center. The two clubs
wrap their series up Wednesday afternoon with a mound battle between Jake
Westbrook and Jonathon Niese.