MLB Baseball
2012-05-24 - San Diego Padres at New York Mets
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Thursday 24 May 2012 - First Pitch 7:10pm ET
12:10am (British Standard Time)
Preview
The New York Mets (24-20) have been one of the more surprising teams in the Major Leagues so far this season and they open up a four game set with the San Diego Padres (16-29) who have disappointed no one with their record.
New York come into this game having taken a series off the Pittsburgh Pirates while San Diego were swept by the St Louis Cardinals including a 6-3 loss last night.
It was expected to be a tough season for the Mets, but they are still holding a winning record as we almost complete the second month of the season. However, there are signs that things are getting tougher for them as they have begun to struggle at the plate, excluding David Wright. The Mets are averaging just 0.223 over their last 11 games and it gets even worse when there are runners in scoring positions.
They will be giving Jeremy Hefner his first start in the big Leagues tonight- Hefner is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA this season but he has been playing in relief.
Hefner is given this opportunity as Miguel Batista is injured and he did allow 2 runs in 5 innings pitched in relief against the Toronto Blue Jays in his last appearance in Saturday.
The pitcher may have some success as he is facing a batting line up that has struggled all season and is batting an average of 0.191 when they have runners in scoring positions, the worst mark in the Major League.
The Padres will look to Eric Stults to give them a chance as he goes to the mound for his second start since being picked up from the Chicago White Sox. Stults allowed 2 runs and issued 3 walks in just under 7 innings pitched against the LA Angels in his last outing.
He has a 1-1 record with a 3.38 ERA in three career starts against the Mets, although this will be the first time he has faced them in a little under 5 years.
Head to Head
This will be their first series in the 2012 season, while it was the Mets who took a 4-3 season series win in 2011.
New York have lost their last 2 home games against San Diego since taking 4 of 5 here.
New York are 12-8 at home this season, San Diego are 4-13 on the road.
Prediction
Both batting line ups have been struggling this season and both are facing pitchers that they will be unfamiliar with and that could lead to a potentially low-scoring game tonight.
The San Diego Padres have not scored more than 3 runs in any of their last 7 games and they continue to miss opportunities to score runs with poor at-bats when they have runners in scoring positions.
New York themselves have been having a hard time putting together the runs and they were limited to just 10 in their three game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
With the unfamiliarities surrounding both pitchers, I am going to take this game going under the 8 runs on offer.
The Pick :
New York Mets 3-2 San Diego Padres
