Sunday Night Baseball features a matchup of NL East foes when the New York Mets (9-5) travel to SunTrust Park to take on the Atlanta Braves (8-6). This is the last game of a four-game series between the two, with New York taking two of three to this point. In Saturday’s game, though, it was the Braves who came out on top, 11-7. In the win, Josh Donaldson and Nick Markakis hit long balls while Touki Touissant picked up the win, going six innings and not allowing an earned run (one unearned run scored) in relief of Sean Newcomb, who was knocked out after just 1.1 innings. The Mets will look to take the series Sunday and will send out ace Jacob deGrom (2-1, 3.18 ERA) to the mound to take on Braves’ righty Julio Teheran (1-1, 6.00 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:08 pm ET.
The moneyline for Sunday’s game is set at the New York Mets -160 and the Atlanta Braves +135. The over/under for runs scored is set at 8.5.
New York Looking To Cy Young Winner For Series Win
It must be nice to win two of your first three games against a division rival and still have your best pitcher waiting to go in game four. That is exactly the case for the Mets, as they will send out last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner, Jacob deGrom, to the mound. It is likely that deGrom will be on a mission, too. He was roughed up in his last outing, giving up 6 runs and snapping his record-tying 26 straight quality starts. Still, despite the bad outing, he has been pretty brilliant this year, going 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in three starts. Over the course of those three starts, he has gone 17 innings, giving up 16 hits and 6 earned runs. He has also fanned a ridiculous 27 batters versus just 3 walks on the season. Needless to say, he should be locked and loaded to go Sunday night.
Offensively, the Mets have been rolling early on as well. Peter Alonso continues to impress. It was questionable as to whether he would even break camp with the big club and all he has done this season is rake. Thus far, he is hitting .360/.439/.860 with a 1.299 OPS. He also has 6 home runs, 17 runs batted in and 11 runs scored. There is some swing and miss to his game as he has 17 strikeouts versus just 8 walks, but he has nonetheless been dominant early on. He is not the only one that has started off well, either. The Mets have five players hitting .340 or higher, and Michael Conforto, JD Davis, Brandon Nimmo, and Robinson Cano all have multiple home runs this season. In what is a loaded NL East, the Mets seem ready to compete.
Braves Looking To Split
While the Mets have gotten off to a good start, the Braves have also been quietly good. At 8-6, they sit just a game behind the first-place Mets and have shown they have the ability to win on both sides of the field this year. From a pitching standpoint, they will be sending out righty Julio Teheran. In 3 starts this season, Teheran is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and opponents are hitting .263 against him. In 15 innings he has given up 15 hits, 10 earned runs, 3 home runs and has struck out 17 while walking 8. In his last outing, Teheran got the win against the Colorado Rockies despite giving up 6 earned runs in 5 innings. He is not nearly the pitcher that broke onto the scene early in his career, but he still can show flashes of dominance at times.
Offensively, Freddie Freeman has gotten off to a solid start this season. While the power has been somewhat absent (he only has one home run), he is still hitting .365/.484/.519 with 5 doubles, 7 runs batted in and 14 runs scored. Where the power has come is from Ronald Acuna Jr. and Dansby Swanson. On the season, Acuna is hitting .300/.417/.660 with 5 home runs and 12 runs batted in while Swanson is hitting .289/.393/.622 with 4 home runs and 18 runs batted in. When you also throw in the likes of Josh Donaldson, Nick Markakis, and Ozzie Albies, this team can hit as well as most anyone.
Mets Win The Game And The Series
This one is all about the pitching for me. Jacob deGrom is not only the best pitcher on the Mets, but he would also be on the short list of pitchers considered the best in all of Major League Baseball right now. Throw on top of that the fact that the Mets’ offense has been absolutely electric lately (yes, they lost Saturday, but still put up 7 runs, and it is a combination that seems to point to advantage New York in this one. It is worth noting that there are a handful of Braves who have had success against deGrom in their careers, but I still will take my chances with him under the bright lights of Sunday Night Baseball. For my money, I am taking the Mets at -160.