The New York Mets have been a major disappointment throughout the first couple of months of the 2017 season. The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t been that much better. The Mets will wrap up their three-game set in Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Baseball with the hope that they can get more out of one of their struggling starters. New York entered this season with one of the deepest and most talented starting rotations in all of baseball. However, injuries and inconsistent play have resulted in the Mets pitching staff producing the 30th-ranked ERA in all of baseball. Matt Harvey has been among the biggest disappointments with a 5.36 ERA. Harvey is coming off his first winning start in seven appearances for New York. The Mets are banking on him building off that performance against the Pirates on Sunday night.
Details
Date: Sunday May 28th
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Line: New York -120
Why The Mets Might Win…
Harvey suffered six straight losing starts before finally picking up a victory in a 9-3 win over the San Diego Padres. Harvey gave up two earned runs over 5.0 innings of work while striking out six against the Padres. Harvey hasn’t lasted longer than 5.1 innings in any of his last five starts so New York will need him to give them more. Meanwhile, the Mets offense has certainly held its own with 235 runs scored this season. New York ranks ninth in the majors in that department despite a .242 team batting average. Neil Walker has picked up the pace including two home runs in Friday night’s win over Pittsburgh. The Mets will need to lean on their offense even more with the pitching staff struggling. If New York’s offense continues to produce and Harvey delivers a strong outing then the Mets will have an excellent chance to win on Sunday Night Baseball.
Why The Pirates Might Win….
The Pirates entered Saturday night’s contest with New York at two games above .500 but managed to get a win. They have played decent ball at home but have struggled with consistency. On the season, they are 13-10 at home compared to 10-17 on the road.
A big part of the problem is the inconsistency of the Pittsburgh offense. The Pirates rank 24th in the majors in runs scored and 27th in batting average this season. Pittsburgh’s offensive production won’t be able to score enough runs to win on Sunday night unless Tyler Glasnow can build on his recent run. Glasnow has allowed just two earned runs in each of his last two starts to lower his ERA from 7.98 to 6.69. If Glasnow can produce a quality start on Sunday then Pittsburgh will have a shot at wrapping up the series with a win on Sunday Night Baseball.
Outlook
Harvey is coming off his best start since the first week of the season. The Mets need him to pitch to his potential. Harvey should be able to keep the Pittsburgh offense in check on Sunday night and give his club a shot to win.
Meanwhile, the Mets offense has been solid all year and they should have a good shot at delivering another strong outing against Glasnow for Pittsburgh. New York hasn’t been great on the road this season but it isn’t like the Pirates have been outstanding at home. The Mets are 9-12 on the road, which isn’t that bad. They are slightly worse than a .500 team when away. There are teams like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are 31-20 overall, that have similar road records to the Mets.
The other factor here is that the price doesn’t seem to bad. The Mets are at -105, which is a reasonable betting line to invest in considering it looks like we have the better pitcher in this spot. Both teams are about equal and home-field advantage isn’t that big of a factor in this spot. If we had to lay any type of significant juice with Harvey, we’d pass. At a PICK, it makes sense.
We will take Harvey and the Mets to pull out the win over Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Baseball.
Pick: New York -105
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