New York Mets at Pittsburgh Pirates (Under 8 runs -120)
Mets (Matz 7-1, 2.60) Pirates (Niese 5-2, 4.36)
Jonathan Niese will lead the Pittsburgh Pirates +104 against his former team for the first time. At home this season Niese has a 2-1 record and opponents have a .230 batting average against him. Five New York Met players have faced Niese in their careers. Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, James Loney, Rene Rivera and Neil Walker are a combined 6 for 35 with no home runs off of Niese all-time. As a team the Mets have a .237 batting average against southpaws this season.
Mets starter Steven Matz comes in with a 4-0 record and 1.32 ERA on the road this season. This will be the first time Matz has ever faced the Pirates. Pittsburgh is one of the better teams in MLB against left handed pitching. They are currently 5th in the league in OPS against left handers. I like this game to go under 8 runs.
Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies (Cubs -1.5 runs, -155)
Cubs (Lester 6-3, 2.29) Phililes (Morgan 1-4, 7.07)
The Philadelphia Phillies +220 are the biggest underdog of the day. The Phillies were swept by Chicago at Wrigley Field in the May 27-29 series, dropping every game by at least three runs. Phillies starter Adam Morgan has a 9.61 ERA in his last four starts.
Cubs starter Jon Lester picked up a win going 6 1/3 innings against Philadelphia on May 27. He has allowed one earned run or less in three out of his four road starts this season. The Phillies rank 28th in MLB with a .226 batting average and dead last this season in runs scored against left handed pitchers.
I like the Cubs to win by more than a run.
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