The Oakland Athletics and New York Mets are set to start a three game series in Queens on Tuesday. The Oakland Athletics come into the game with the second worst record in the American League. They are only better than the White Sox. The Athletics are 50-69 on the season, needing 13 more wins this season to avoid 100 losses. Oakland though has won back to back games.
The New York Mets had a July and August surge, but have struggled as of late. Seattle beat the Mets 12-1 on Sunday Night Baseball, and it was the third straight loss for New York. The Mets are now 61-57, but firmly in the middle of the National League Wildcard race. The Mets are third in the National League East.
The New York Mets are -166 over Oakland. The total is set at 8.
Oakland playing spoiler role
Ross Stripling goes for the Oakland Athletics in this game. Stripling has had a rough season thus far. He is 2-11 on the season, and his ERA is 5.72. Stripling has struck out 40 batters, and walked 14 on the season. He has not given up a ton of longballs, with just 7 on the season in his 14 starts.
In the blowout win on Sunday for Oakland, the offense pounded out 12 hits. JJ Bleday had three of them, and drove in three runs. He added his 14th home run of the season. Zac Gelof also clubbed his 15th. JP Sears picked up his 10th win for the Athletics.
Oakland is scoring 4 runs per game. The Athletics are 26th with 7.7 hits per game. Oakland has been one of the best home run hitting teams in the league, with 152 on the season. Brent Rooker leads the charge with 29, while Shea Langeliers has 21.
Struggling Mets
For the Mets, it will be former Oakland Athletics starter Paul Blackburn. He has been solid as of late. He is 5-2 on the season, with a 3.86 earned run average. Blackburn will be making his 12th start. His last time out, he went six innings, and allowed 5 hits and 2 runs on the road at the Rockies.
The two power threats for the Mets have been Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. Alonso has clubbed 25 home runs and 26 doubles, while Lindor has 22 bombs and 29 doubles on the season. The Mets also have 17 home runs from Matt Vientos and 16 from Brandon Nimmo.
New York is scoring 4.8 runs per game. They are 7th in the league. New York has 147 home runs, which is 6th in the league. The long ball has been a huge key for the Mets offense. In the series against the Mariners, they scored just a single run, which came off a Jeff McNeil homerun, his 11th.
Mets get Back on Track
The New York Mets are going to get back on track. The offense has been struggling, but getting a chance to take on Ross Stripling is a good thing for them. The Mets offense goes wild and they win this game easily. Take the New York Mets -1.5 (+128) over the Oakland Athletics in this battle on Tuesday.
