New York Mets at Atlanta Braves Betting Preview
In what has become an absolutely crucial game for both teams, the New York Mets (98-60) and Atlanta Braves (99-59) will battle it out in primetime Sunday night. This game will be played at Truist Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:08 pm ET.
On Saturday, the Braves took sole possession of the NL East for just the second time all season with a 4-2 victory over New York. Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson both homered in the victory, while Kyle Wright picked up his 21st win of the season.
For the Mets, ace Max Scherzer struggled as he gave up four runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings of work. The Mets managed eight hits, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with Atlanta.
The Braves are the slight favorites playing at home. They are -124 to win, while the Mets’ moneyline sits at +106. The runline features New York +1.5 (-200), and the over/under for total runs is 7.5.
Mets Try To Move Back Into Tie For First Place
To say that Sunday’s game might be the most important of the Mets’ season would be a bit of an understatement. They hold the tiebreaker with the Braves, meaning that Atlanta would have to beat them by at least a game in the standings to win the division. With a loss Sunday, though, the Mets would fall two games back with just three to play.
After both Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer lost in the opening two games, it will be Chris Bassitt trying to save the day for the Mets. In 29 games, he is 15-8 with a 3.27 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, and he has 165 strikeouts in 179 innings.
He comes in having won back-to-back starts, albeit against the A’s and the Pirates. In his last 14 innings, he has given up just two earned runs.
Pete Alonso has hit well against the Braves Charlie Morton in his career, hitting .313 in 16 at bats. Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil have both homered off of him in their careers, but they are also hitting .156 and .167, respectively, against the righty.
Defending Champs Looking Strong
It took a while for them to get going to start the season, but the Braves have looked just as strong, if not stronger than they did last year when they won the World Series recently.
Veteran righty Charlie Morton will take the ball for Brian Snitker’s club Sunday night. Fresh off of a new extension, Morton will take a 9-6 record with a 4.29 ERA into this one.
Morton was roughed up a bit in his last outing against the Phillies. In a no-decision, he gave up six runs in just 4.2 innings of work.
Over the last month, Dansby Swanson has been one of the Braves’ hottest hitters. With his home run Saturday night, he now has seven home runs and 17 runs batted in over his last 26 games.
Against the Mets’ Bassitt, both Matt Olson and Austin Riley have homered in their careers.
Take The Braves And The Over
With how electric both of these teams have been, it wouldn’t be surprising to see either win. Still, the trends support the Braves a bit more.
Atlanta has won six of its last seven games and 12 of its last 13 at home. Furthermore, they are 5-1 against the Mets in their last six games at Truist Park.
Especially with some momentum behind them, take Atlanta to win this straight up at -124.
Another interesting play is to take the OVER. In six of the last seven Mets’ games overall, and in eight of the last 12 that these two have squared off, the OVER has hit. Thus, it might be worth taking a gamble on the +7.5 (-108).
