Baseball Odds: The New York Mets should be a small home favorite on Thursday as they host the Atlanta Braves. The pitching edge should be with New York as they are expected to go with Jon Niese while the Braves send Mike Minor. This could be a low scoring contest on Thursday as both teams have strong pitching staffs but weak offenses. Here is a look at the matchup and baseball predictions.
Probable Pitchers – Minor vs. Niese
Mike Minor has poor overall numbers for the season at 5-8 with a 4.90 ERA but he has pitched better of late and may have turned the corner. He didn’t give up a hit last time out against the Reds until the 8th inning. He has a 2.53 ERA over his last three starts and he has averaged more than seven innings in this outings. He has a 4-2 record in 11 career starts against the Mets with a 4.86 ERA.
Jon Niese continues to pitch well but not get much for his efforts because of the poor New York offense and the poor defense behind him. He gave up three unearned runs last time out against the Dodgers. Niese is 2-1 in his last three starts with a 3.20 ERA. He is 7-9 on the season with a 3.47 ERA. He is 6-5 with a 3.48 career ERA against the Braves.
Braves vs. Mets Series
The Braves had won six of the last 10 before this series started with four of the last five games going under. It has been a home team series for the most part as the Mets had won six of the last ten in New York with six of the last eight going under. The teams played last month in New York and three of the four games went under.
Baseball Predictions
Both starting pitchers in this one have pitched well of late and both teams are weak on offense as the Braves are 26th in the league in runs scored while the Mets are 28th in runs scored, so we’ll look for this game on Thursday to go under the total.
