The New York Mets were on a roll heading to Atlanta, hoping to put away the NL East this week.
That isn’t what happened.
The Mets have looked awful for the first two games of a four-game set. They lost 13-1 on Monday to the Atlanta Braves and 5-0 on Tuesday. All of a sudden the Braves are 3.5 games back in the division and have some hope.
This is why the Mets got Max Scherzer.
Scherzer, who would be the unquestioned ace on just about any other team but splits that title with Jacob deGrom on the Mets, takes the mound on Wednesday. The Mets are -150 favorites at BetMGM despite looking like a Little League team at times this week.
The Mets signed Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million deal to win big games, and Wednesday has suddenly turned into a big game. The Mets can’t be facing down the possibility of a Thursday sweep (although they will have deGrom on the hill).
The Braves are tough to beat. Tuesday’s win was their eighth in a row. They’ve had a fine follow-up to their World Series title, and have added some impressive rookies for a postseason run this year. Jake Odorizzi, a trade deadline acquisition, will start for the Braves on Wednesday night. He’s not as good as Scherzer, but the rest of the Braves are on a roll.
If you like taking +125 home underdogs who are 72-46 this season and on an eight=game winning streak, this is your chance. It would just mean having to fade Scherzer, which is never fun.
Here’s the first look at the sports betting slate for Wednesday:
WNBA playoffs begin
There is playoff basketball on the slate. The first round of the WNBA playoffs starts with a couple Game 1s: The New York Liberty at the Chicago Sky and the Phoenix Mercury at the Las Vegas Aces. The Sky and Aces are the No. 1 seeds in each conference. Chicago won the championship last season.
The Sky are 8.5-point favorites and the Sky are an even bigger 14.5-point favorite to open that series.
The rest of the MLB slate
It’s a normal Wednesday around baseball, with 15 games in total and six afternoon games as some series wrap up.
Perhaps the most interesting games down the stretch will come from the top of the AL Central. The Cleveland Guardians lead the division with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox a game back. The Guardians are -225 favorites against the Kansas City Royals, the Twins are -190 favorites against the Kansas City Royals and the White Sox are +125 home underdogs against the Houston Astros. There’s intrigue with all of the games at the top of the AL Central, which we can’t say for plenty of division races this season.
What’s the best bet?
The New York Yankees offense is as cold as anything can get in August. They’re not hitting. I’ll take the Tampa Bay Rays as a +115 underdog at Yankee Stadium and make the Yankees prove their bats have some signs of life.