MLB Baseball
2012-06-07 - New York Mets at Washington Nationals
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Thursday 7 June 2012 - First Pitch 1:05pm ET
6:05pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Washington Nationals (32-22) continued their dominance over their National League East rivals the New York Mets (31-26) by taking the first two games of the series in the Capital. That means the Nationals are 2 games ahead of their closest rivals in a tight NL East and the Mets are only 2.5 games back from the lead.
The Mets will feel confident they can salvage some pride as they send RA Dickey to the mound as he bids to become the first pitcher to win 9 games this season and also continue his hot form on the mound. Dickey is 8-1 this season with a 2.69 ERA, but his record since the beginning of May has been even more impressive.
Dickey is 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA in his six starts since the beginning of last month and he has won his last three starts with a 0.39 ERA, striking out 30 batters and only issuing 1 walk.
The pitcher went 1-3 against the Nationals in five starts last season and he had a 3.82 ERA in those games. However, it was the lack of run support that really hurt Dickey as he was only given five runs in the four games he failed to record a win.
Washington took the first two games of the series and much of their success this season has been based around their solid starting pitching. However, that may not be the case today as they give the ball to Chien-Ming Wang.
Wang started his first game last week and gave up 4 runs in 4 innings pitched against the Miami Marlins as the Nationals were beaten 5-3. He started twice against the New York Mets last season, going 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA.
Head to Head
Washington have opened up the 2012 season by winning 4 of the 5 games against the New York Mets, including the last 4 on the spin.
That means the Nationals are now 8-1 in the last 9 games in the series between the teams.
The Nationals have won 3 of their last 4 home games against the Mets.
Washington are 12-7 in day games this season, New York are 16-9.
Prediction
Washington continue leading the way in the National League East, but I think they are going to see that lead shrink a little as I favour the New York Mets to take this third game of the series and avoid the sweep.
They seem to have the edge on the mound today and that should be enough to make the difference, especially of Chein-Ming Wang has a tough time as he did in his first start of the season against Miami. The fact that Wang has also struggled in his two games against the Mets last season strengthens my belief that the road team can grab the win.
The Mets have also been slightly more productive at the plate so I will take them at 1.83 to win the game.
The Pick :
Washington Nationals 3-4 New York Mets
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll take the New York Mets @ 1.83
