The San Diego Padres are struggling to score runs and win games on the road. Their task doesn’t get any easier against the New York Mets, one of baseball’s best home teams, when the clubs collide in Thursday’s series finale.
ODDS ANALYSIS
For the first time in a while the Mets can say they don’t have the worst hitting team in the major leagues. That distinction now belongs to San Diego after Mets’ starter Noah Syndergaard and newly acquired Tyler Clippard held the punchless Padres to four hits in a 4-0 win in Tuesday’s series opener. It was New York’s third straight win at Citi Field giving them the second-best home record in the majors at 35-16 going up 16.78 units on the moneyline. San Diego’s road woes continue as it lost for the seventh time in nine games away from Petco Park, down 4.69 units in that time. The Padres are averaging just 2.0 runs and batting .120 with runners in scoring position while the under is 7-1-1 in those games. The Padres took two of three games when the teams met in San Diego in early June, but that’s when the Pads still thought they could contend.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Andrew Cashner (4-10, 3.93 ERA) pitched through seven innings allowing just five hits and one run while striking out five in a win over the Marlins on Friday. He has a 2.60 ERA in his last four starts giving up 19 hits over 27.2 innings and hasn’t given up a home since June 16. Nine of his 13 homers allowed have come on the road where he’s 2-5 with a 4.16 ERA.
Cashner was tagged for 11 hits and five earned in 4.2 innings in a loss to New York on June 1, though he did fan a season-high 12 batters. He owns a lofty 5.71 ERA in just 17.1 innings with two starts among his seven lifetime appearances against the Mets.
Teammates praised Jonathon Niese (5-9, 3.75 ERA) for his commitment after the lefty made his last start on Friday instead of attending the birth of his second child, though I’m sure his wife felt differently. It’s fair to say Niese had a lot on his mind and the Dodgers hit him hard for eight hits and six runs in three innings. He entered that start with a 2.28 ERA over his previous eight outings and will try to put the clunker behind him.
Niese has outstanding numbers in five career starts against San Diego with a 2.04 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and .215 batting average against. He’s likely to improve on those against a team that can’t hit.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“He’s an outstanding reliever. He’s got great stuff. He can pitch every day. He gets left-handed hitters out with that tremendous changeup, so we got a lot better today. Certainly we thought our bullpen was pretty good, so when you can improve it immensely, that’s a big step.” – Mets manager Terry Collins on the acquisition of Tyler Clippard.
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
The Mets could have talked about Noah Syndergaard’s scintillating pitching performance against the Padres. The talk of David Wright resuming baseball activities might have been another hot topic. But instead Jenrry Mejia was the center of attention. On Tuesday Major League Baseball suspended the Mets pitcher for 162 games after a second failed drug test. The team’s former closer returned from an 80-game suspension on July 7 and pitched 7.1 scoreless inning of relief this season in a setup role and was expected to anchor the back end of the bullpen with current closer Jeurys Familia. And it just happened that Mets’ GM Sandy Alderson swung a deal with Oakland to get reliever Tyler Clippard a day earlier, a move independent of the Mejia suspension, so the organization says. Clippard posted 17 saves with a 2.79 ERA as Oakland’s closer and moves back to a familiar setup role with the Mets. He was the eighth-inning guy in Washington the previous two season amassing 73 holds while going 13-7.
PROP TALK
The Mets acquired Juan Uribe to help a weak offense and he’s done rather well in his short time with the club. Playing for his third team this season, Uribe is hitting .429 in his first three games with the Mets and has the most hits of any current New York player against Andrew Cashner. Of course he also has the most at-bats. Uribe is a career .348 hitter off Cashner with eight hits in 23 ABs. He also has a pair of doubles and RBIs.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
If the Mets are caught looking ahead to a critical weekend series with the Nationals, the Padres could sneak in and get a win. That’s probably the only way San Diego can come out victorious. They’ve been absolutely brutal on the road lately and facing another quality Mets starter isn’t going to help the league’s worst offense. With all the deals made in the offseason, San Diego was supposed to be better, now they are faced with another roster tear down at the deadline. This team has to be the biggest disappointment and it’s not getting better.
New York 4, San Diego 1
The MLB odds for this game will be available first at BookMaker Sportsbook. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time moneylines, player props and inning totals. Live betting is open during every commercial break!
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! First pitch for the game between the San Diego Padres and New York Mets is scheduled for Thursday, July 30, 2015, at 12:10 p.m. ET at Citi Field. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
