Philadelphia Phillies (54-46) +120, 9 at New York Mets (53-47), 7 pm Eastern Wednesday, ESPN
by Zman of Predictem.com
The race in the National League's Eastern Division is getting very interesting, and continues Wednesday night when the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets play game two of a three-game series at Shea Stadium.
Baseball Bookies are listing New York and starting pitcher John Maine (8-7, 4.22) as –130 home favorites for Wednesday's game, with a total of 9, while Philadelphia and Brett Myers (3-9, 5.84) are getting +120 as road underdogs.
The Phillies took the opener of this series Tuesday night by rallying for six runs in the top of the 9th inning for an 8-6 win. The Mets were without closer Billy Wagner, who's got a bad elbow, and three relievers couldn't seal the deal for New York.
Since the All-Star break, Philadelphia is 2-2, the Mets 2-3.
So going into Wednesday's play, the Phillies are in first place in the NL East, one game ahead of both the Mets and the Florida Marlins.
Philly is 27-23 on the road this year, 17-12 as underdogs, and 46-54 vs. the run line.
NY is 28-19 at home this season, 34-33 as favorites, and 51-49 vs. the run line.
The Mets have taken seven of 11 games from the Phillies so far this season, with the totals going 5-6, as the games have averaged 9.6 total runs per.
Last year, Philly took the season series from New York 12 games to six, with the totals going 6-10-2, as the games averaged 9.4 total runs.
Myers will be making his first start after spending the last three weeks in the minors. The Phillies are just 4-13 in Myers' starts this season, the totals 9-8.
Myers hasn't started vs. the Mets since 2006.
Over his last three starts, including a lousy outing vs. Cincinnati last Friday, Maine has given up 11 ER and 20 BR in 15 IP. New York is 11-9 in Maine's starts this year, the totals 10-7.
Over the last two seasons, Maine has started five games vs. Philly, allowing nine ER and 34 BR in 30 1/3 IP. The Mets won four of those games, with the totals going 3-2.
Offensively, Philly ranks 19th in the majors this season in team BA at .258, 14th in team OBP at .334, 4th in team slugging at .442, and is averaging 5.0 runs per game.
New York ranks 10th in batting at .265, 7th in OBP at .339, 19th in slugging at .407, and is averaging 4.9 RPG.
Over the last five games, the Philly bullpen has allowed five ER and 22 BR in 13 2/3 IP.
Over its' last five games, the Mets pen has given up 13 ER and 26 BR in 14 1/3 IP.
On the injury/personnel front, New York's closer Billy Wagner is listed as day-to-day/probable for Wednesday's game.
The over/under totals are 46-53 in Phillies games this year, 49-43 in Mets games, and 21-23 in games played at Shea, which are averaging 8.8 total runs this season.
Zman's Pick: Look for the Mets to come back tonight with some strong motivation.
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