Washington Nationals at New York Mets | 2012-07-23 | MLB Baseball

MLB Baseball

2012-07-23 - Washington Nationals at New York Mets

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Washington Nationals @ New York Mets
United States: Major League Baseball
Monday 23 July 2012 - First Pitch 7:10pm ET
12:10am (British Standard Time)

Preview

The Washington Nationals (55-39) may be one of the surprise teams of the Major League Baseball season, but they are showing no signs of falling away with a couple of months to go until the post-season. On the other hand, the New York Mets (47-48) have fallen below 0.500 for the first time this season and are in danger of falling away in the National League East.

It is Washington that are leading the way in the Division and they are 3.5 games clear of the Atlanta Braves after splitting a four game series against them over the weekend. The Nationals are a further 5 games clear of the Mets ahead of this three game series in New York.

Jordan Zimmermann will be given the ball as he looks to build on his 7-6 record and his 2.35 ERA for the season. He has been pitching well recently and has not allowed a run in his last two starts while he is 4-1 with a 1.86 ERA in his last nine. That looks even better in recent starts as Zimmermann has a 0.84 ERA in his last five starts.

The pitcher went six innings last time out against the Mets and did not allow a run as the Nationals pulled a 4-3 win last week. He also helped Washington to a win over the Mets last month.

New York will send Chris Young to the mound who has a 2-4 record and a 4.11 ERA, but he has lost three consecutive starts despite putting in five quality starts from his last six.

Young has a 3-2 record against Washington with a 2.77 ERA in eight starts against them and the Mets will be looking for him to put in a similar performance as the one the pitcher had against them last week when allowing just two runs in six innings.

The Mets will also be hoping Young can go deep into this game as their bullpen was forced into throwing seventeen innings over the weekend in three games. The entire pitching staff have been struggling as New York have lost nine of their last ten games.

Head to Head

Washington have enjoyed the upper hand in games against New York this season and lead the 2012 series 6-3.

New York lost a series played here earlier this season and are now just 1-6 in their last seven games at home against the Nationals.

The Mets are 26-23 at home this season, Washington are 27-20 on the road.

Prediction

The Washington Nationals have been given some great help from their starting pitching rotation that has allowed them to lead the National League East, but their batting line up found a bunch of runs over the weekend and that may be enough for them to win this game by a couple of runs at the least.

Chris Young has played well against Washington in his career, but he will need to go deep in the game if the Mets are to keep this close as their bullpen has been really suffering over the weekend. If they have to pitch extensively in this one, the Nationals may just be able to put up a few more runs in this one.

I like the way Jordan Zimmermann has been pitching recently and the way he is comfortable in his role in this rotation. Some of the other pitchers get more of the attention of the press, but Zimmermann has been having a solid season and has been in very good form recently.

I will only take a small interest on Washington to cover the run line in this one, mainly due to Young's career record against them.