Baseball | Wednesday, May 31, 2023 8:26 AM

New York Mets vs Philadelphia Phillies Best Bet: NL East Clash in the Big Apple

CREDIT: IMAGO / NurPhoto

US Sports Expert

NEW YORK METS VS PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES BEST BET: WEDNESDAY, MAY 31st

Citi Field will play host to an NL East clash between the Phillies and Mets on Wednesday night in Flushing, NY, this being the second of a 3-game set. A low-scoring match on Tuesday night leads us to this Hump Day affair, and our resident baseball expert Ej Garr expects a complete reversal of fortune for both offences on Wednesday night. Let’s take it to the diamond and see what Ej has in store for us today!

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New York Mets vs Philadelphia Phillies Preview

June 1, 00:10 (UK time)

I am sitting here at home watching tonight’s Phillies vs Mets game, and I waited until they got to the 9th inning to start this article for Wednesday night. The Mets will play host to the Phillies for the second of their 3-game set at Citi Field, and it is my opinion that we will see a completely different game take place tonight than I just watched play out tonight.

Ranger Suarez and Kodai Senga had complete control of the lineups tonight, as both pitchers went deep into the game. Senga struck out 9 Phillies and only surrendered one hit through 7 innings but there was no Bryce Harper in the lineup to deal with. Harper was given the night off so he could have two days to rest after missing the first month of the campaign. Francisco Lindor slapped a home run to give the Mets a 1 – 0 lead in the 4th inning and the Mets tacked on another run in the 7th inning, and the game just went final, 2 – 0.

I expect such a different result tonight because we have a favourable pitching matchup to support some scoring to be found on Hump Day here in New York. Aaron Nola and Carlos Carrasco are the probable starting pitchers listed to take the mound for this division game, and neither pitcher has done much to impress me thus far.

Nola has already given up 10 home runs, and he was very giving in his last start against the Braves. Atlanta knocked three balls over the wall against Nola, and he’s been giving up the long ball in nearly every start he has made this campaign. Through 11 starts, Nola has seen at least one ball leave the park in 9 of those outings, and the weather here in NY is supposed to be absolutely perfect for a ballgame.

Carrasco has only made 5 starts this season, and he too has been adjusting his neck to watch balls leave the yard behind him too often. In all honesty, if you look over the 5 teams he has faced this year (Milwaukee, Miami, Oakland, Cleveland, and the Cubs) can someone find me an offence worth a damn from the lot of them?

Just because the score was 2 – 0 tonight doesn’t make me shy away from the expectation of runs being scored tonight. I am thrilled that the offences looked so lethargic because I knew it would help us with pricing on tonight’s total.

The game total sits at 8.5 and most bookmakers are offering a range of 1.95 to 1.87 for that action. I don’t care! Alternate totals make life so much more interesting and the higher we go the better the price gets. Pinnacle is offering 2.37 on the Over 9.5, and now you are talking my language. I expect 10 runs to be scored before we even get to the 7th inning, and balls will be leaving the yard tonight against these two starters.