The red hot New York Mets look to continue their dominance over the Philadelphia Phillies in a very bizarre series.
The Philadelphia Phillies have lost four straight games and have been shutout three of their last four. For an offense with arguably the most firepower in the league, a win today would be great for their confidence and would avoid the sweep. Star sluggers Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have had an abysmal four game stretch, going a combined 5-31 with ten strikeouts and four walks.
The Mets on the other hand, have not looked better all year. Jose Reyes has finally showed signs of life, batting 9-19 with seven runs scored in his last four games. Jason Bay has also found a surge of power, hitting more home runs in the last week than he previously had all season. David Wright is hitting a league leading .430+ against left handed pitchers and the Mets pitching staff is beginning to live up to the New York hype. The Mets have won four in a row and have not swept the Phillies in thirteen years.
Cole Hamels will be on the hill for the Phillies and has been looking very sharp as of late. Hamels is 3-0 with a 2.36 ERA in the month of May with wins against the Red Sox, Brewers and Braves with a one earned run no decision against the St Louis Cardinals. Hamels has not had as much luck against the New York Mets, going 1-4 with a 5.35 ERA in his previous 6 starts.
Pitching for the Mets will be the hard throwing right hander Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey had a disappointing season last year but is finally showing signs of why he was the 9th pick of the 2005 MLB draft. He has begun the year with a 2.86 ERA and a 5-1 record. Pelfrey was not successful in his last outing against the Phillies, giving up six earned runs through four innings on May 1. Ryan Howard is batting .440 for his career against Pelfrey and Chase Utley has gone deep four times against the right hander.
On the injury report for the Phillies is Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Madison, Jimmy Rollins, Brad Lidge and Brian Schneider.
On the injury report for the Mets is Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo.
The betting line opened with the Phillies being a -135 favorite and a total of 8. New York has seen the majority of the money so far moving the lines to -130 and Mets +120. The total on this game has gone from 8un15 to 8un20.
I expect to see the Mets continue to see the ball well and the Phillies to break out of their recent slump resulting in a bet on the OVER.
