The Daily Sweat: Will the Mets' June misery continue vs. the Yankees?
We’ve officially reached the dog days of summer if you’re a regular sports bettor.
The NBA and NHL postseasons have come and gone, and football season is still a few months away. That means a lot of focus will turn to the daily grind of Major League Baseball.
And for one MLB team, the past few weeks have certainly been a grind.
The New York Mets are in the midst of a miserable stretch. They’ve lost nine of their past 10 games following an ugly 7-6 loss to the crosstown rival New York Yankees on Tuesday at Citi Field.
The game started with some promise. By the end of the third inning, the Mets had built a 5-1 lead with ace Max Scherzer on the mound. But that lead quickly disintegrated as the Yankees tagged Scherzer for five runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-5 lead.
The Mets tied things up 6-6 in the fifth but gave a run right back in the top of the sixth when center fielder Brandon Nimmo failed to haul in a catchable ball off the bat of Anthony Volpe. The miscue sent Billy McKinney to third, and McKinney scored on a Josh Donaldson sacrifice fly the very next batter.
It proved to be the winning run, as the Yankees’ bullpen shut the door with 4 1/3 shutout innings, including navigating a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the bottom of the eighth. There was also an ejection for Mets reliever Drew Smith for allegedly having a sticky substance on his hand.
It was an ugly night all around for the Mets.
With the loss, the Mets fell to 31-36 on the year, good for fourth in the National League East. It’s just a two-game set with the Yankees, so the Mets will get one more shot at the Bronx Bombers on Wednesday.
It’ll be veteran Justin Verlander on the mound for the Mets opposite Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Cole is 7-1 with a 2.84 ERA on the year, compared to Verlander’s 2-3 record and 4.85 ERA. Verlander was tagged for seven hits and four earned runs in just three innings in his previous outing. He’ll need a much better effort to get the Mets back in the win column.
Even with Cole on the hill and the Mets scuffling, the Yankees are just slight favorites at BetMGM, at -115. The Mets are -105 with the total listed at 7.5 runs.
What else is going on in baseball?
The Oakland Athletics are on fire.
The A’s lost 50 of their first 62 games this season but have all of a sudden found some success, with an out-of-nowhere seven-game winning streak. The A’s won two of three in Pittsburgh and then swept the Milwaukee Brewers before returning home to face the Tampa Bay Rays, the team with the best record in baseball.
On Monday, the A’s won 4-3. On Tuesday, the A’s — with a spirited crowd on hand to protest the club’s impending move to Las Vegas — came back to win 2-1.
Despite their recent winning ways, the A’s are big underdogs again Wednesday. The Rays are -275, and the A’s are +230 at BetMGM.
Other intriguing matchups on the schedule for Wednesday include the Baltimore Orioles (-105) hosting the Toronto Blue Jays (-115), the Texas Rangers (-140) hosting the Los Angeles Angels (+115) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (-135) hosting the Philadelphia Phillies (+110).
Look-ahead 2024 Stanley Cup odds
The Vegas Golden Knights won their first Stanley Cup on Tuesday by taking care of the Florida Panthers in five games.
We’re only hours into the NHL offseason, but BetMGM already has odds for next season’s Cup winner.
Here are the teams atop the odds board:
Colorado Avalanche: +800
Edmonton Oilers: +1000
Toronto Maple Leafs: +1000
Boston Bruins: +1100
Carolina Hurricanes: +1200
New Jersey Devils: +1200
Vegas Golden Knights: +1200
New York Rangers: +1400
Tampa Bay Lightning: +1400
Dallas Stars: +1600
Florida Panthers: +2000
Los Angeles Kings: +2000
Calgary Flames: +2500
Minnesota Wild: +3000
