MLB Betting Picks: Atlanta Braves at New York Mets

Added on Aug 10, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

The Atlanta Braves have been playing excellent baseball over the past few weeks, but there’s been one problem–the Washington Nationals are also playing well meaning that Atlanta has been unable to cut into their lead atop the NL East. The Braves have a good opportunity to pick up some ground this week as they head to Citi Field to take on the New York Mets while Washington is on the road against a tough Arizona Diamondbacks team. The Mets started the season in the divisional title mix but have slumped horribly since the All Star Break.

Atlanta Braves at New York Mets
August 10, 2012 4:10 PM Pacific

Everything appears to set up well for a strong performance by the Atlanta Braves in this series and tonight’s opening game looks especially appealing. The Braves will start recently acquired Paul Maholm–Maholm will be making his third start since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs. Maholm has been solid for much of the season and that hasn’t changed with the move from one team to another. In his last three starts Maholm has allowed only 5 earned runs for a tidy 2.08 ERA. Matt Harvey will make his first start at Citi Field–the highly touted prospect has shown some promise in three road starts but will have his hands full against an Atlanta team that has cleaned up against right handers this season. The Braves are 46-24 against RHP this year for +19 units of profit and are averaging 5.1 runs per game in those matchups.

Also making matters difficult for the Mets is their year long struggles against left handed pitching. New York is 17-25 -6.4 units against southpaws and they’re facing a good one in Maholm. The Braves have been taking care of business against teams with losing records–they’ve won 16 of 20 against sub .500 teams since the All Star Break. Atlanta has posted a record of 23-11 since July 1st and given the advantageous pitching matchup it’s hard to see the Mets slowing them down. Look for Harvey’s Citi Field debut to be a rude awaking as the Braves continue their push for the NL East title. If they can get some help from the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend this could be one of the best races in baseball down the stretch.

Bet Atlanta Braves (Maholm) -120 over New York Mets (Harvey)