The New York Mets (47-42) are making things uncomfortable for the National League East leading Washington Nationals. Thanks to a scorching streak at the tail end of the first half, the Mets are now just two games behind Washington. They’ll look to sustain their streak when they fly to St. Louis for a showdown with the suddenly slumping Cardinals (56-33).
For more baseball previews, you can click here for our breakdown of the MLB All-Star Game and here for our preview and prediction for the 2015 Home Run Derby.
[sc:MLBArticles ]New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals Preview
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
When: Friday, July 17, 2015, 8:15 PM ET
Line: New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals – view all MLB lines
Betting on the New York Mets
[sc:MLB240banner ]Hopefully for the Mets, the All-Star Break will not cause them to cool down. The surging Mets closed their first half schedule on fire, as they won their past four games, which includes a three-game sweep of Arizona. With Noah Syndergaard starting for them on Friday, there will be no lack of confidence for the Mets, who are 3-1 in their last four road games.
Syndergaard has been “Thor-like” on the mound of late. He is 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA over his last three starts. Against the Diamondbacks on July 10, the right-hander was just downright nasty in eight innings of work, as he allowed just one run on four hits while striking out a career-high 13 batters to lead New York to a 4-2 victory.
Syndergaard faces St. Louis next, arguably the best team in baseball today. The rookie righty may be on a roll, but Mets’ offense will have to find a way to relieve some pressure from their inexperienced starter.
Among those the Mets are looking to provide activity at the plate are Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Michael Cuddyer. Kirk is hitting just .167 this July but after blasting three homers on his way to a 3-for-4 night against Arizona on Sunday, there might be more to come from the outfielder. Cuddyer, meanwhile, hit 5-for-12 (.417) with a homer over his last three games.
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Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals
The Cards must be aching to resume their regular season schedule. After dropping three consecutive games to division rival Pittsburgh, the Cardinals aim to return to their winning ways when they host the scorching Mets for the first time this season on Friday. Dating back to 2012, St. Louis is 7-3 in its last 10 home games against the Mets.
As of this writing, the Cards are yet to name their starter, but it’ll likely be Lance Lynn, the team’s top-of-the-rotation guy. Lynn had a forgettable four-inning performance in his last start, as he yielded five runs on nine hits before being yanked off the mound in Cards’ 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh on July 10. Despite that disappointing start, Lynn still finished the first half with a 6-5 record and a solid 2.90 ERA.
The Cards’ bullpen, meanwhile, will have to regain its dominating form after back-to-back awful performances. Trevor Rosenthal, in particular, has been out of his element in that two-game stretch, wherein he gave up four total runs in just two innings of relief appearance. Thus far this month, the Cards’ bullpen has a 4.73 ERA, fourth highest in the NL.
As for the offense, the Cards are hitting a poor .217 thus far this July, averaging 3.5 runs in 13 games. Randal Grichuk, however, is the brightest Cards hitter of late, as he has averaged.407 over his last seven games. In the recent four-game set against Pittsburgh, he went 8-for-18 (.444) but drove just two runs.
Writer’s Prediction
St. Louis wins, 5-3.
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