Betting on Mets vs. Cubs Plus Preview From Sportsbook.com

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

MLB: Primetime pitching duel

The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs open a two-game series with a primetime duel between two great pitchers.

John Maine is scheduled to take the mound for the Mets while the Cubs are expected to send staff ace Carlos Zambrano out for an interesting matchup.

Catch this game Monday night on ESPN at 7 pm ET and get all the latest MLB odds, trends and stats to kick off another exciting week in baseball.

Zambrano enters the contest with the flashier numbers. Through four starts, he has a 2-1 record with a 3.04 ERA and 23 strikeouts. He failed to record a decision in an opening day start against Milwaukee.

In 26 2/3 innings of work, Zambrano has given up 27 hits but just nine earned runs to go with three walks.

It has been a great start for Zambrano, a guy who traditionally starts slow and heats up with the weather. The Cubs will be trying to ride their horse to a win while batting against John Maine.

Maine is 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in three starts. He’s racked up 16 2/3 innings over those starts, giving up 18 hits, 12 walks and seven runs. And while he only has 10 strikeouts so far, it’s been the amount of walks he’s given up that has Mets’ backers worried.

The Mets’ pitcher has walked nine batters in the last two games and he needs to lower that number if he expects to have success against a Cubs lineup filled with dangerous hitters.

Chicago’s offense has been clicking since a slow start in the opening series of the season. The Cubs are third in the majors with an average of 5.47 runs per game and they’re in the Top 10 in batting average, OPS, home runs and stolen bases.

And although they will play this game without left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who is on the 15-Day DL with a calf injury, there’s still plenty of bats to fear in this lineup. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome are still in the middle of the lineup and they give pitchers problems.

The Mets’ offense has also been putting up good numbers. New York is averaging 5.14 runs per game and has a team batting average of .261, which puts them 13th in MLB.

One area the Mets are looking to improve on is stolen bases. The Mets are ranked 20th in the league in that category and speedster Jose Reyes is off to a slow start with just one bag swiped. Last year, Reyes stole 78 bases.

Before betting on this game, you’ll also want to check the injury report as the Mets’ star center fielder, Carlos Beltran has been day-to-day with a strained neck since last Thursday.