There’s a tight race to the top in the National League East, involving the Washington Nationals (54-46) and the New York Mets (52-50). The Nationals have floundered in the second half but showed signs of life again after winning back-to-back games, including a 1-0 win over Miami on Thursday. The Mets, meanwhile, is coming off consecutive losses, as they dropped their last two games to the San Diego Padres.
Read on for a detailed preview of this game. You can also pore over our overview of tonight’s matchup between the Angels and the Dodgers.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets Preview
Where: Citi Field, Flushing
When: Friday, July 31, 2015, 7:10 PM ET
Line: Washington Nationals (+115) at New York Mets (-125); total: 6.5 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Washington Nationals
[sc:MLB240banner ]With the Mets breathing heavily down Washington’s neck in the NL East, the Nationals sure like their chances of creating more separation atop the division when they give the ball to Gio Gonzalez in the series opener. Gonzalez, who carries an 8-4 record and a 3.83 ERA, has beaten the Mets twice this season and will be looking to make it three in a row against New York later tonight.
Gonzalez is unblemished so far this month, as he is 3-0 with an impressive 1.88 ERA in three starts this month. That includes Washington’s 7-2 win over the Mets on July 20, when Gonzalez yielded just two runs on six hits over six innings of work. Aside from his recent string of performances, Gonzalez also draws confidence from the fact that the Mets have the worst hitting lineup against southpaws. At present, the Mets’ .214 batting average against left-handed pitchers ranks worst in the majors. In addition, the Mets are 0-3 in their last three games opposite a lefty starter.
As for the offense, Gonzalez will be hoping that the same run support that backed him in his last two starts would show up once again. The Nats have scored 16 runs across Gonzalez’s past two outings, which includes the team’s 9-3 win over Pittsburgh on July 25. In that game, Gonzalez allowed just one run on five hits in five innings, while Michael Taylor starred for the offense, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Taylor is hitting .409 (9-for-22) with three homers and six runs driven over his past six games. He is also a career .300 (3-for-10) hitter against Mets’ ace, Matt Harvey.
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Betting on the New York Mets
They don’t call him the Dark Knight for nothing. Pitching against the hard-hitting Dodgers on July 25, Harvey showed why he has one of the game’s best arms when he gave up just one run, six hits, and just a walk in seven innings of mound duty to lead New York to a 15-2 victory. With the win, Harvey improves to 9-7 with a 3.16 ERA this season.
While such performance from Harvey is expected on any given night, the Mets’ offense in that game, however, was pure anomaly. For a team that ranks last in the majors in runs and batting average, 28th in on-base percentage, and 29th in slugging, it’s fair for Harvey not to expect the same offensive brilliance from the Mets’ lineup when he goes up against Washington later tonight. Nevertheless, the Mets still need to gather some runs to give Harvey enough room to operate.
Watch out for the trio Juan Lagares, Daniel Murphy, and Ruben Tejada when they go up against Gonzalez. Lagares is 10-for-22 (.455) with a triple and a homer in his career against Gonzalez. Murphy and Tejada, on the other hand, are .348 and .300, respectively, in the same matchup.
The Mets are 8-2 in the last 10 home starts of Harvey, who is 6-2 with a 2.91 ERA in 10 outings at Citi Field this season.
Writer’s Prediction
New York (-125) wins, 2-1.
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