The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets faced off in a tremendous series in the opening round of the playoffs last year.
They split four games at Chavez Ravine just a couple weeks ago, and they'll have a shot to get the best of their potential pennant contenders on Saturday night in Flushing.
You can bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
PITCHING MATCHUP
The one thing you know if you're planning on live betting this game is that there are going to be a lot of zeroes put up on the board.
Kenta Maeda has slowed down just a bit after the torrid pace he set at the start of his big league career, but we still have a lot of confidence in him even though he hasn't pitched well of late. The righty has given up four runs in three straight appearances, the first of which came against these Mets on May 11.
Live bettors definitely have a cause for concern, but we really think these last few games have been a product of being relatively unlucky more than anything else. His WHIP in these three games is still a very reasonable 1.43. All five men which reached base against Maeda in his last outing against San Diego scored, and that's just not likely to continue.
It's going to be a lot more palatable to bet on Noah Syndergaard, though. All Thor has done in his last three starts is allow two runs over 22 innings with 27 strikeouts against just one walk. That ratio is out of this world, and if that continues, you can bet Syndergaard is going to be in the discussion for the Cy Young Award in the National League.
The biggest thing about Syndergaard is that he just flat out throws hard. He's got the highest average velocity on the team, and clearly, with 76 strikeouts against just nine walks, he knows where that ball is going as well. That type of command is just flat out nasty, and there's nothing not to like about it.
ADVANCED STATS
For all of the money the Dodgers put into this roster, this lineup just flat out isn't good. Syndergaard only allowed two runs over eight strong innings against these Dodgers two weeks ago, and maybe that shouldn't be all that surprising.
LA averages 4.24 runs per game, but that isn't the truly alarming stat. As a team, the Dodgers are batting just .240 with a team OPS of .692. The club only has 44 homers.
We know that the Dodgers don't have any real speedsters on the base paths, so they're going to basically have to play station-to-station baseball or big fly ball. If they aren't getting bats on balls and aren't getting help from Syndergaard in the form of walks, how can they be trusted to ultimately string runs together? Live bettors certainly need to be worried.
TALKING BULLPENS
Thor doesn't need his pen for all that many innings usually, but we know that the Mets can get the job done late if need be. Jeurys Familia is one of the most dominant closers in baseball at 15-for-15, and he's not the only flamethrower in this pen by any stretch of the imagination.
All three of Hansel Robles, Jerry Blevins and Addison Reed have been fantastic this year with sub-3.00 ERAs, and they're all capable of tossing shutdown innings.
We aren't sure we're going to see a lot of the New York bullpen in this game, but in the event that Thor doesn't cover most of this one, have full confidence there are plenty of stopgaps to get to Familia, especially against these Dodgers who have struggled so mightily to string big innings together.
MLB Odds at BookMaker.eu
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker's live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers versus the New York Mets will commence at 7:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at Citi Field. The matchup will be televised live on FOX.
