Monday night features the first of a three-game interleague battle as the New York Mets (33-38) take on the Houston Astros (39-33). The Astros will host this one at Minute Maid Park with first pitch scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.
The Astros are favored in this one playing at home. They are -130 to win, while the Mets’ moneyline sits at +110. The runline features New York +1.5 (-194), and the over/under for total runs is 7.5.
Mets Hoping To Improve On The Road
After a massive offseason that saw the Mets bring in players like Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana and others, expectations were sky high in the Big Apple. Unfortunately for Mets’ fans, it has been a disappointing season thus far at just 33-38. One of the Mets’ biggest problems that they will look to improve Monday is their road play, where they are just 16-23.
Trying to help the club get back in the win column is starting pitcher Max Scherzer. The 38-year-old veteran is 5-2 in 11 games with a 4.45 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and he has struck out 60 in 56.2 innings. He has been roughed up in his last two starts, though, as he has given up 11 earned runs in his last nine innings.
Offensively, the Mets got a boost as they activated first baseman Pete Alonso off of the injured list. The slugger leads the team in home runs (22), runs batted in (49) and runs scored (41).
As a team, the Mets rank 17th in the majors, averaging 4.41 runs per game (4.67 on the road).
Astros Trying To Rebound From Rough Stretch
It has certainly been a rough stretch for Houston as of late. They have lost seven of their last ten games, including four straight entering Monday. They will try to rebound at home, where they are 20-18 to this point.
Manager Dusty Baker will send rookie Hunter Brown to the mound for the opener. At +700, he currently has the fourth-best odds of winning the American League Rookie of the Year award.
In 13 starts, Brown is 6-3 with a 3.35 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and he has struck out 83 in 75.1 innings. Brown threw a gem in his last start, going seven scoreless innings in a win over the Nationals.
Offensively, the Astros are still without slugger Yordan Alvarez. With him out, the best hitters for the Astros this season have been Alex Bregman (9 HR, 40 RBI, 39 R) and Kyle Tucker (9 HR, 41 RBI, 31 R, 13 SB).
Take The Mets To Win Straight Up
Looking at the trends, the Mets are 3-11 in their last 14 games and 1-7 in their last eight road games. Stemming to previous seasons, they are winless in their last eight games at Minute Maid Park.
For Houston, they are just 2-5 in their last seven home games and 1-4 in their last five games overall.
This one is a tough one to call as neither team has been particularly strong as of late. While Hunter Brown has been solid this season, there still just seems to be a lot of value in taking the Mets as underdogs when Max Scherzer is on the hill.
For that reason, take the Mets to win straight up at +110.
