MLB Baseball
2012-04-11 - Washington Nationals at New York Mets
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Wednesday 11 April 2012 - First Pitch 1:10pm ET
6:10pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The New York Mets (4-1) and the Washington Nationals (3-2) conclude their first series of the season with the winner of Game 3 taking it. The Mets won 4-3 in Game 1 thanks to a 9th inning score, but Washington took Game 2 6-2 last night.
Both teams will be sending their ace pitchers to the mound for their second starts of the 2012 season, and both pitchers will be looking to build on impressive starts.
The Mets will given the ball to Johan Santana who pitched 5 scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves, although not receiving the decision in a 1-0 win for New York. Santana missed the entire 2011 season through injury and this will be just his second start since September 2010.
Santana was limited to 84 pitches in his first game this season, although he has said he wants to improve that count sooner rather than later. The pitcher is 5-1 against Washington in 7 career starts and he has a 3.20 ERA in those games.
Washington will try to counter Santana by sending Stephen Strasburg to the mound in the hope he can build on his own impressive start to the season. Strasburg allowed just 1 run in 7 innings pitched against the Chicago Cubs, although he didn't get the decision despite a Washington win.
This will only be his second start against the Mets after giving up 2 runs in 5 innings in 2010 in a home win for the Nationals. Strasburg, like Santana, had a slow 2011 due to injuries and is looking to bounce back this season.
The pitcher could be helped by the fact that the Mets have a few issues with their batting line up. David Wright was injured last night and will miss a couple of games, a big loss considering he opened the season 7/12 from the plate. While Wright was at least performing, Ike Davis has struggled and is yet to record a hit this season.
Jayson Werth is the big threat for the Nationals as he has enjoyed playing at this ball park. He has collected 5 hits from the first 2 games of the series and has a 0.400 record from his last 25 at the plate.
Head to Head
Washington have now improved to 6-2 in the last 8 games of the series following their win last night.
The Nationals have also improved to 5-1 in their last 6 games at this ball park.
Prediction
I am going to back the Washington Nationals to complete a series win for the following reasons:
First, while both pitchers have had impressive opening day performances, I think the Nationals hold the edge in this department.
Second, the Nationals have also been a little warmer with the bat in their hands, while the Mets are missing a huge piece in David Wright tonight.
Third, Washington have performed well here in recent games.
The Pick :
New York Mets 2-3 Washington Nationals
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back the Washington Nationals @ 1.92
