We expect to see the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets go back and forth all season long in the NL East, and this is just the beginning of what should be a thrilling 19 games between these two teams this year on Tuesday night.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Mets had themselves a year last season against Washington. They went 11-9 in their 20 games, including pulling off a couple big wins against Max Scherzer, the man who is going to be on the bump on Tuesday night. Bettors earned 3.80 units who bet on New York in all 20 of those matchups in 2015. Had the Nats gone 13-7 instead of 9-11 last season, they would've won the NL East. That's the fine margin these games between these teams are going to face this year.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Scherzer has a 4.15 ERA this year, but Nats fans who were wondering if they were at the point to worry whether their ace was starting to fall off were reminded of his dominance in his last start. The righty tied the big league record with 20 strikeouts against his former team, and he did so without walking a single batter.
We're a little worried that Scherzer threw 119 pitches in his last start, but he does have an extra day to work with here thanks to the Nats' day off on Monday.
Noah Syndergaard continues to mow down opponents and run up the quality starts. He's only had one start this year which didn't fit in the quality category.
The big thing about Syndergaard is that he's striking out batters at an alarming rate. He's slowed down a bit in his last couple starts, but for the year, he's still at a 10.68 K/9, a number some might say is unsustainable for a starter over the course of the season.
LIVE BETTING
The Mets have quietly put together a fantastic bullpen this season. Go look up and down their pen, ending with Jeurys Familia. We've always known Familia to have nasty stuff, and he's a legit 12-for-12 in save chances this year.
But now look a little deeper. Hansel Robles, Jim Henderson and Antonio Bastardo all have K/9s of at least 9.9, and the three combined have an ERA of right at 2.00.
QUICK PICK
The Nats were swept twice by the Mets last year, including once at home, and that might end up boiling over again in this game. Scherzer is fantastic, but is running into one of the top up and coming pitchers in the game in Syndergaard.
Sure, the Mets had a rough weekend in Denver and haven't scored more than four runs in a game in eight straight, but they aren't going to have to put more than maybe two or three up in this one to get the win.
Look for Syndergaard to do just enough to outduel Scherzer in this game, and from there, the New York offense which has put up 53 homers in the regular season thus far to do the rest.
MLB Odds: Mets 3, Nationals 2
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