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With only a week remaining of the regular season, one of the more highly anticipated series of the entire year takes place as a battle for first place in the NL East will be on the line as the New York Mets travel south to square up with the Atlanta Braves. With that being said, it is time to look at our MLB odds series, where our Mets-Braves prediction and pick will be made.
Winners in eight of their last 12 contests, the Mets received a day off on Thursday prior to their epic clash with the defending champion Braves later this evening. New York will call upon one of the best pitchers in the game in Jacob deGrom, who is 5-3 with a minuscule 2.93 ERA in his ten starts thus far.
After the Braves saw their four-game winning streak come to an end in a 3-2 loss in the nation's capital, Atlanta is determined to dethrone the Mets once and for all and not look back starting tonight with the first of a three-game contest. Trailing by only one game in the division with six games remaining on the slate, the time is now for the Braves to make their move. In line for the start in tonight's important matchup will be their ace in lefty Max Fried, who is 13-7 with a 2.50 ERA on the season.
Here are the Mets-Braves MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Mets-Braves Odds
New York Mets: -1.5 (+140)
Atlanta Braves: +1.5 (-170)
Over: 6.5 (+100)
Under: 6.5 (-122)
Why The Mets Could Cover The Spread
Currently sitting at 98-58 which includes a 47-31 record out on the road, the Mets will come into Truist Park with aspirations of clinching their first division title since 2015. Leading 9-7 in the season series up to this point, it all comes down to this! After the Mets and Braves have battled with all of their might to nab the division crown for their own taking, the two franchises with championship aspirations will meet for the final time this season for all of the marbles.
In order to cover the spread in game one, New York will have to rely heavily on their ace in Jacob deGrom who is coming off of a rough outing in which he was shelled for five runs on six hits in only four innings pitched against Oakland. Clearly, this is quite uncharacteristic of deGrom and the Mets will be hopeful he can get back on track before postseason play. As a whole, the Mets have been absolutely electric from the bump as they have compiled the eighth-best ERA in all of baseball with a 3.58 mark and have also racked up 71 quality starts from their pitching staff on the year.
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Not only that, but the Mets boast one of the more explosive offensive attacks that the league has to offer. With the entire baseball world watching this one later today, New York must prove that they can string together clutch hits against a Braves squad whose roster is equally as talented. In fact, the Mets have posted fourth-most runs in the league and also possess the second-highest on-base percentage, which could be a big factor in putting pressure on Atlanta pitching to escape jams throughout.
Why The Braves Could Cover The Spread
As confident as the Mets are that they can wrap up the division this weekend, the Braves are determined to remind everyone why they are the defending World Series champs in the first place. Obviously, this weekend series between two heated NL East foes is as important as it gets, and Atlanta and New York will be throwing their best arms on each roster over the course of the next few days.
Without a doubt, there is no denying that the Braves are loaded with talent, but so are the Mets. If Atlanta wants to come out on top in this one, they will need to display a certain clutch gene that can't be replicated. Surely, scoring runs in this contest will be tough to come by, but don't put it past this lineup to create an explosion at the plate.
Believe it or not, Atlanta has been the better offensive unit in comparison to the Mets this year, as Atlanta has slugged their way to the third-most runs in the league and boasts an elite amount of hitters who know how to hit it out of the park with a .442 slugging percentage. With that being said, be on the lookout for names like Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and even Ronald Acuna Jr. to rise to the occasion with the game on the line.
Pitching-wise, the Braves will combat deGrom with Max Fried, who has historically kept the Mets in check with a 6-5 record and a 2.85 ERA in 15 career starts. Clearly, Fried's performance will be key in overcoming the Mets at home.
Final Mets-Braves Prediction & Pick
It all comes down to this folks! Expect this contest to be a close game until the final out is recorded, as it is hard to imagine that the Mets win by more than one run in this one with so much on the line on Friday night.
Final Mets-Braves Prediction & Pick: Braves +1.5 (-170)
