The New York Yankees are one of the best teams in the major leagues but their counterparts, the New York Mets, are going through a poor season. The teams will face off after the All-Star Break and the Yankees hope their combination of superior talent and home field advantage will make for an easy victory.
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The Yankees are one of the three best teams in the American League but the problem is that the Boston Red Sox are also one of them and they play in the same division. The Yankees are currently 4.5 games back in the race for the National League East title and would love to catch Boston to avoid a Wild Card spot in the postseason.
The Mets are already looking toward 2019 as they are far out of the playoff race. This game means much more to the Yankees but the Mets do have a talented starter heading to the hill, which could help even out the odds.
The game will be held at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York and will take place on Friday, July 20th, 2018, at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Vegas Odds Analysis
The Yankees are going to enter this contest as the favorites. They are 62-33 on the season with an impressive mark of 33-13 at home. New York has a strong offense, starting pitching and relief staff which should give them the ammunition to make a legitimate World Series run.
The Mets are just 39-55 on the year but have actually done better on the road, winning 20 of 43 contests.
Probable Pitchers – Syndergaard vs German
The Mets are projected to send talented hurler Noah Syndergaard to the mound. He is 5-1 on the season with a 2.97 ERA. Syndergaard missed several weeks with a finger injury but returned on Julu 13 and gave up only one earned run in six innings in a win over the Nationals, showing no ill effects from the injury. He has the pure stuff to stymie a talented Yankees lineup.
New York will counter with Domingo German, who is 2-5 with a 5.49 ERA. He is in the rotation because of injuries and is nothing more than a fill-in. The Mets need to take advantage of this pitching advantage because they are weaker everywhere else.
Mets Struggling to Score Runs
The Mets have scored only 363 runs this season, which is 28th in the major leagues. The team has struggled with the bats all year long. The team batting average is only .228 and the on-base-percentage is .307, both of which are among the worst marks in the majors.
Yoenis Cespedes is a talented slugger and he will be back in the lineup after missing a long stretch due to injury. His return is a boost, and there are some intriguing young pieces, but overall the Mets don’t have the depth or high-end talent to compete with the best teams in the majors on a consistent basis. In contract, the powerful Yankees have scored 493 runs on the year, as players like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorious have all put together impressive performances. The Yankees have the clear advantage on offense.
Who You Should Bet On
The Mets have a huge advantage to start on the mound but look for the Yankees to hang around early and eventually win the game in a battle of relievers. The Yankees need to start the second half hot to close the gap on the Red Sox and they will pick up a valuable game here, but by the slimmest of margins. Consider taking the Mets on the runline.
Our Pick: Take the Mets on the runline.
Score Prediction: New York Yankees 4, New York Mets 3
Check out the latest MLB betting odds.
