Mets to cut down Braves in rubber game?
The Mets haven’t suffered two straight losses in 19 games. They wouldn’t risk letting that streak come to an end vs. the majors’ worst team, right?
Surprisingly, Atlanta came out swinging in Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over New York. Rookie Mallex Smith belted a homer, while veterans Freddie Freeman and A.J. Pierzynski registered two hits apiece. It all coalesced to give the Braves (7-19) a shot at capturing the series this afternoon.
Oddsmakers, however, remain skeptical about such a proposition. Online sports book Bovada.lv lists Terry Collins’ squad as a 1.5-run favorite in the 1:10 p.m. ET rubber match. Conversely, Atlanta enters as a +180 underdog. The over/under total sits at seven runs.
Collins will entrust Steven Matz (3-1, 3.86 ERA) with keeping the visiting club’s offense at bay in several hours. Most recently, the lefty scattered seven hits across six scoreless in a 13-1 win over San Francisco. Matz has delivered solid performances in two career turns against the Braves, too, surrendering three runs over 11 1/3 innings in a pair of Ws.
Can Jhoulys Chacin (1-1, 3.27) keep up with the New York phenom? The veteran righty permitted just two runs in last week’s 5-3 triumph at Boston. Nonetheless, Chacin claims only one start of six-plus frames since Aug. 24.
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Look for the Mets (16-9) to get back to taking quality at-bats here. Provided that Matz steers clear of Smith, who’s 8 for 15 with three doubles on Atlanta’s current road trip, we shouldn’t observe a particularly close affair in Flushing.
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