New York Mets at San Diego Padres Betting Preview
Playoff hopefuls will square off in a National League battle Monday as the New York Mets (37-19, first in NL East) take on the San Diego Padres (35-19, second in NL West). The Padres will host this one at Petco Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 9:40 pm ET.
The Mets split a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend, winning the last two, including a 5-4 extra inning win on Sunday. After blowing the save in the ninth inning, Seth Lugo picked up the win in extra innings.
Despite leaving 18 runs on base, the Mets’ offense still picked up five runs on eight hits. Starling Marte hit his seventh home run of the season.
Winning the last three games of the series, the Padres won their four-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend. In the finale, San Diego won 6-4. Mike Clevinger got the start and allowed just one run over three innings.
Jake Cronenworth led the offense, going two for four with a home run and four runs batted in. Luke Voit and Jurickson Profar also added two hits apiece.
The Padres are slight favorites playing at home. They are -106 to win while the Mets’ moneyline sits at -104. The runline features New York +1.5 (-225), and the over/under for total runs is seven.
Mets Continue To Dominate
Despite having the reigning World Series champions in their division, the Mets have absolutely dominated the NL East thus far. At 37-19, they have an 8.5 game lead over the second-place Braves, and that lead is tied for the largest divisional margin in baseball.
Trying to add another tally in the win column Monday will be veteran righty Carlos Carrasco. This season, the 35-year-old Carrasco is 6-1 with a 3.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and he has 51 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched.
He has won four straight games. In his last outing, he went five scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals, allowing four hits. While he struck out five, he did also allow five walks.
Offensively, the Mets have been led by first baseman Pete Alonso. He is currently hitting .283/.359/.552 with a team-leading 16 home runs and 54 runs batted in. In his career against the Padres’ Blake Snell, Alonso only has one hit, but that one hit was a home run.
Francisco Lindor has also hit well this season with a slash line of .259/.341/.448 with nine home runs, 45 runs batted in, and a team-leading 39 runs scored.
Padres Trying To Keep Pace With Dodgers
At 33-21, the Padres have the third-best record in the National League and the fifth-best in all of baseball. Still, as they sit two games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, they will look to keep pace with them as they host the Mets Monday.
On the mound for the Padres will be southpaw Blake Snell. Limited to just three games thus far due to injuries, Snell is 0-2 with a 4.80 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and has 18 strikeouts in 15 innings.
In his last start against the St. Louis Cardinals, Snell went six innings, allowing just two earned runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out six in the contest.
Manny Machado has led the offense to this point, especially with star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. still on the injured list. In 198 at bats this season, Machado is hitting .333/.409/.551 with a team-leading nine home runs, 32 runs batted in, 38 runs scored, and seven stolen bases.
Despite hitting just .235/.328/.390, Jurickson Profar has also been solid for the Padres. He has six home runs, 27 runs batted in, 28 runs scored, and four stolen bases. He ranks second on the team in all four of those categories.
Profar has also had some success against Carrasco in his career. He is three for five with a home run against the righty.
Take The Mets On The Road
While the Padres have been playing great baseball this season, the trends support the Mets in this one. Not only are they 8-2 in their last ten games, but the Mets are also 4-1 in their last five games against the Padres.
At -225, there isn’t a whole lot of value in taking New York on the runline, but straight up, there is a ton of value in taking them on the moneyline at -104.
Remember, while the Mets have been dominant at home (19-8), they have been almost equally as dominant on the road this year (18-11).
