New York Mets (7-3) vs Atlanta Braves (5-5)
The Mets are definitely off to a better than expected start. They took the opener of now their second series against Atlanta last night making them 4-0 vs the Braves this year (they are just 3-3 against everybody else).
Tuesday April 17
Turner Field – Atlanta, GA
7:10PM
Moneyline: Atlanta -110, New York +100
O/U: 7
Probable Starters:
NYM: Johan Santana
ATL: Randall Delgado
New York
The key has been the pitching which has held opponents to three runs or less 60% of the time early on. I still don’t like their lineup but it appears this team may not be as bad as everybody feared in the post Jose Reyes era.
Leading the pitching charge is Johan Santana. His form may not be vintage as he has pitched just 10 innings in two starts but he has given up just one run. He is still easing back into things so you never know how deep into the game he will get. That is not a great situation because most of the Mets top relievers are guys nobody else wanted.
These guys are still making me nervous despite early success.
If have been betting them you should be happy right now.[dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Atlanta
Meanwhile the Atlanta Braves are off to a ho-hum start. They have just the .500 record despite strong performances from several key contributors. Right now this is a hard team to read and the National League East is super competitive so they need to get going. No one could have predicted they would lose 4 games to the Mets already this season. It is a bad trend because they have about 15 more against them.
So far it looks like Jason Heyward was just experiencing a sophomore slump last year. He has come roaring out of the gate with a high average and power. Even Chipper Jones is making a solid contribution coming off of injury and in his final year. The pitching has been solid save Jair Jurrjens who has been getting rocked.
Delgado’s lone start was quality but he only worked until the 5th and middle part of the Braves pen has been a weakness.
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Atlanta 5 – New York 4