John Bollman's Bet of the Day - 8/30

The New York Mets take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in a battle between the two best teams in the National League. The Astros and Mets currently have identical records as well, so there isn’t a team in the entire league that has a better record than these two. It could be a National League Championship Series preview as well, since these are the two top teams in the National League, and they wouldn’t play each other until the Conference Series. These two teams are trending a bit differently lately. The Mets have cooled off a bit winning just six of their last 10 games. They are 43-20 at home this season though, and they are 12-3 at home since the trade deadline. The Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball right now overall going 10-4 on the road since the trade deadline and 44-22 on the road overall this season. The Dodgers are 51-15 since June 15th including 24-9 on the road in that time. The Mets are 41-25 and 23-12 at home in that time. The Mets split the four-game series in Los Angeles earlier this season, but the Dodgers have owned the Mets in New York the past few seasons. Obviously, this is a different team, but the Dodgers have still won 11 of the last 12 games against the Mets in New York.

Taijuan Walker is starting for the Mets, and he has struggled lately. He had been very good all season, but he has struggled to a 7.71 ERA in August. He faced the Dodgers earlier this season and allowed two earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched, but he only had two strikeouts and picked up the loss. Andrew Heaney has only made nine starts this season, but he has pitched extremely well for the Dodgers when he has pitched. He didn’t face the Mets in that series earlier this season, but he is coming off back to back 10 strikeout performances and he has a 1.94 ERA on the season. The Mets have also seriously struggled hitting lefties lately, they are ranked 28 th in the league in wOBA against lefties since the trade deadline, just ahead of the Tigers and Marlins. The Dodgers also have a big bullpen advantage.

The Mets have the best reliever in Edwin Diaz, but the Dodgers bullpen is ranked 2nd in the league in ERA since the trade deadline while the Mets are ranked 19th . I like the Dodgers on the road.