MLB Baseball
2012-07-14 - New York Mets at Atlanta Braves
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Saturday 14 July 2012 - First Pitch 4:05pm ET
9:05pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
These two Divisional rivals continue their three game series at Turner Field as they look to reign in the Washington Nationals in first place in the National League East. The Atlanta Braves (47-39) won the first game of this series against the New York Mets (46-41) last night and that means the Braves are 4 games behind the Nationals with the Mets a further 1.5 games back.
New York have a few injuries to their starting pitching rotation, but they can at least rely on RA Dickey tonight as he bids to continue his form from the first half of the season. Dickey has a 12-1 record this season with a 2.40 ERA, although he has to remove memories of his only loss of the season when the Braves tagged him for 8 runs in just over 4 innings pitched.
Dickey's last 14 starts for the Mets has seen him compile a 10-0 record and a 1.84 ERA. The break may also have done the pitcher some good after he gave up at least 5 runs in 2 of his last 3 starts before the All-Star break.
While the New York pitching staff have a number of injuries to contend with, the Atlanta Braves are a little short-handed at the plate with no signs of that ending any time soon.
They will look to counter Dickey by sending Tommy Hanson to the mound with his 10-5 record and his 3.71 ERA. Hanson has been pitching well in recent starts before the All-Star break, going 5-1 with a 3.55 ERA since the beginning of June.
However, like Dickey, Hanson needs to erase some recent memories of his opponents as he has now dropped the last 4 starts against them with a 6.64 ERA.
Head to Head
New York lead the season series between the two teams 4-3, although they have dropped the last 3 games to the Braves.
Atlanta have also won the last 3 home games against the Mets, but the series has been even over the last 15 months or so with the teams splitting 12 games here 6-6.
Atlanta are 21-22 at home this season, New York are 20-21 on the road.
The Braves are 12-14 in day games this season, the Mets are 21-13.
Prediction
I am going to take the underdog New York Mets to even the series before game three tomorrow.
The Mets seem to have an edge on the mound today and I think that will prove to be the difference. The bullpen can cause problems, but Dickey is capable of going deep into the game himself and that may be enough for New York to take the game.
With the odds giving us double money for a road win, that is what I will be backing.
The Pick :
Atlanta Braves 4-5 New York Mets
