The New York Mets aren’t inspiring their fanbase. There’s hardly anything going right for the team lately, but hey, they still have Pete Alonso. As for the Atlanta Braves, they will be looking to pad their lead atop the National League East division. The Braves are -350 to win their division, while the Mets are near the bottom with +1600 odds to do the same.
Starters: Mike Soroka (8-1, 2.07 ERA) vs. Jacob deGrom (4-6, 3.25 ERA)
Pitching:
Soroka is slated to start this game despite getting hurt the last time he toed the rubber. In a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals on the road on Jun. 23, Soroka was pulled from the game after just two innings after getting struck in the arm by a pitch. The good news for Soroka is that tests done on him came up negative, so the Braves are likely to continue with their plan to send Soroka to the mound in the series opener against the Mets. Soroka held the Mets to three runs on six hits in six innings of a 12-3 home win on Jun. 17. DeGrom allowed just two earned runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts in six innings of a 5-3 road loss to the Chicago Cubs on Jun. 23. DeGrom hasn’t surrendered more than two runs in any of his past seven starts.
Hitting
Johan Camargo is 7-for-21 in his career vs. deGrom.
The Mets’ current roster has a collective .235 career batting average vs. Soroka.
Prediction: Braves win, 4-3.
GAME 2
Starters: Julio Teheran (5-6, 3.94 ERA) vs. Steven Matz (5-6, 4.85 ERA)
Pitching:
Teheran saw his season ERA rise after giving up seven earned runs on nine hits in four innings of an 8-3 loss at Wrigley Field to the Chicago Cubs on Jun. 24. Teheran has allowed 13 runs on 17 hits across just 8.0 innings over his last two starts. He is 2-4 with a 4.56 ERA in 10 road starts this season. Matz was also rocked in his last start, as he gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits in just 4.1 innings of a 13-7 road loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Jun. 24. Matz, however, is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in six home starts this season.
Hitting
Freddie Freeman is 7-for-21 in career vs. Matz.
Pete Alonso is 4-for-6 with a homer this year vs. Teheran.
Prediction: Mets win, 6-4.
GAME 3
Starters: Max Fried (9-3, 3.96 ERA) vs. Walker Lockett (0-1, 11.74 ERA)
Pitching:
Fried was effective the last time he took the mound to face the Mets. That was on Jun. 19 at home, when he allowed just two earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts in six innings of a 7-2 win. He followed that up in a 3-2 road win over the Chicago Cubs, surrendering just two earned runs on two hits with 8 Ks in six frames. Fried is 5-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 appearances on the road this year. Lockett is winless in two starts this season. He allowed four runs in a road start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Jun. 25, resulting in a 7-5 loss.
Hitting
Ronald Acuna Jr. is hitting .320 so far this month, as of this writing.
