Thursday night features a National League battle of East versus West as the New York Mets (12-7) take on the San Francisco Giants (6-11). The Giants will host this one at Oracle Park with first pitch scheduled for 9:45 pm ET.
The Mets are the favorite in this one despite playing on the road. They are -126 to win, while the Giants’ moneyline sits at +108. The runline features San Francisco +1.5 (-146), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5 (-110).
Mets Try To Stay Solid On The Road
At 12-7, the Mets have gotten off to a strong start, sitting two games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Having gone 7-3 in their last 10 and 8-5 on the road this season, the Mets look to keep playing well as they head to San Francisco.
In their last series, New York took two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers, including a 5-3 win on Wednesday. In the win, Jimmy Yacabonis picked up the win in relief after Max Scherzer was ejected for a sticky substance just three innings into the game.
On Thursday, righty Kodai Senga will get the ball. In three games, Senga has gone 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and he has 21 strikeouts in 16 innings of work. In his last start, he took a no-decision against the Oakland A’s after giving up four earned runs in 4.2 innings.
Offensively, Pete Alonso has gotten off to a fantastic start. In 73 at bats, he is hitting .274/.361/.616 with a team-leading eight home runs. Francisco Lindor has also hit well with four home runs and a team-leading 17 runs batted in.
Giants Trying To Find Their Groove
At 6-11, it has not been a strong start to the season for the San Francisco Giants. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games and 2-4 at home, but they also sit just four games out of first place in the NL West. Still really early in the season, the Giants are trying to find their groove.
The Giants lost two of three in their last series against the Marlins, but they did win the finale Wednesday 5-2.
Alex Cobb got a no-decision after allowing just one run and striking out eight over five innings. Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski both homered in the win.
Lefty Sean Manaea will toe the rubber for the Giants in this one. In three games, he is 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and he has 13 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. He has only lasted more than 3.1 innings once, so he will look to put together a strong outing Thursday night.
Collectively, San Francisco ranks 14th in the majors in scoring, averaging 4.63 runs per game (3.33 runs per game at home). To this point, Conforto, Yastrzemski, and J.D. Davis are tied for the team lead in home runs with four.
Take The Mets To Win
Looking at the trends, the Mets are 6-1 in their last seven games and they are 5-1 in their last six games on the road.
For San Francisco, they are 2-4 in their last six home games and 1-5 in their last six games overall. Stemming back to last year, they are 5-2 in their last seven games against the Mets.
It is hard to bet against the Mets in this one. Not only are the Mets rolling right now, but they also have the much stronger pitcher to this point in Kodai Senga.
Until the Giants show that they can play with any consistency, they are hard to trust. For that reason, take the Mets to win this one straight up (-126).
