Betting tips for the Mets at Braves series.
New York Mets (11-13) at Atlanta Braves (11-14)
BetUS MLB betting odds: Braves -125, Mets +105, Total 9
Right-handers will take the mound for both teams on this night, as veteran Livan Hernandez (1-1, 6.75 ERA) once again gets the ball for the Mets, while Braves counter with Kenshin Kawakami (1-3, 7.06 ERA), a rookie in America but a veteran himself in the Japanese leagues.
Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* NY has lost five of its last seven road games
* ATL has lost four of its last five games
* ATL has lost four of its last five home games
In the HEAD-TO-HEAD MLB betting trends:
* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
* ATL has won eight of the last ten meetings as the home team
* Four of the last six meetings in Atlanta have gone OVER the total
* Thirteen of the last 18 meetings in Atlanta have gone UNDER the total
Carlos Beltran is burning hot at the plate and had two home runs for the Mets last night, batting in four runs that made the difference in a 6-4 New York victory. David Wright also hit a two-run homer for the Mets. Beltran is batting .400, which is leading both major leagues. Until last night, however, he had not experienced an outburst of power. In his previous 23 games he had just two home runs, which certainly wasn't going to put him on pace to match the 27 he blasted last season, or the 41 or 33 he had hit in the two years prior to that.
Currently the Mets are in third place in the National League East, a half-game ahead of the Braves and three games behind the division-leading Florida Marlins. The Braves have been a disappointment at Turner Field, compiling just a 5-8 record.
Kenshin Kawakami was well decorated in Japan, winning an Eiji Sawamura Award (equivalent to our Cy Young) as well as a Central League MVP. He's known as a crafty pitcher, and at age 33, he's been around. His experience with the Braves has been sort of mixed. In his first three starts he allowed three runs in six innings against Washington, four runs in six innings against Florida, and two runs in five innings versus the Nationals again, which is not tragic but certainly won't win him any Cy Young awards. His last start was a disaster, however, as the Reds lit him up for eight runs before he left the game with two outs in the fifth inning. Three of his four starts have gone under the total.
Livan Hernandez started out the season with a good outing against his former club, the Marlins, allowing just two runs in 6-2/3 innings. Then he was hit hard a couple of times to inflate his ERA before coming back with a respectable showing against Florida a week ago, yielding three runs in 5-1/3 frames, even though the Mets lost. He is back, and still in the process of trying to prove he belongs in the rotation, which might experience a few shakeups before mid-season. Jerry Manuel has already pulled Oliver Perez out and put him in the bullpen, replacing him with another Japanese vet, Ken Takahashi. Livan's saving grace might be that there is no one else on the horizon who looks like he is ready to seize a spot.
It's hard to determine which starter is more reliable here, but with Kawakami, and a 5-8 records at home, I'm not so sure the Braves should be laying a price. In a small recommendation, we're going with the underdog Mets in the BetUS Sportsbook National League baseball betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: N.Y. METS (+105)
All odds BetUS.
