New York Mets (42-43) at Pittsburgh Pirates (41-45)
Game Info: Friday, July 5th, 2024 at 8:10 p.m. EST (PNC Park)
Betting Odds: Pirates ML (-120) - Over/Under (9.5)
Pick: Pirates ML (-120)
The New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates will play the first game of a three game weekend series here on Friday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. These are two teams that came into the 2024 Major League Baseball season with expectations of being a contending team. However, throughout the first few months of the season that has not been the case for either of them. Now they will both look to pick up a crucial victory, as they try and put themselves back into the postseason conversation throughout the early part of July.
The New York Mets have plenty of talent on their roster however, the opening few months of the regular season have not gone the way they would’ve expected. They have been putting together a solid run of baseball throughout the early part of July and the end of June the things seem to be looking up for New York. However, there is a long way to go if they want to get themselves back into postseason contention heading into the rest of the summer. New York comes into this game one game below the .500 mark through their first 85 games of the season and they will look to even up their record with a victory here on Friday night.
As they are sitting at 42-43 and despite being well out of contention for the National League East at the moment, they are only two and a half games back for the third wildcard spot. This series will be a pivotal turning point in the season for New York as they do come into this game, following back to back losses against the Washington Nationals throughout the week. That is something they will need to recover from if they want to become a contender once again and it starts with grabbing a victory over Pittsburgh here on Friday night on the road at PNC Park to open up this series.
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Pittsburgh comes into this game looking to pick up a solid victory at home over the New York Mets to open up this series on Friday night. They will need to get the job done against Luis Severino, who comes into this game with five victories and two losses on the season. However, they will have Paul Skenes on the mound for them, and when he has pitched for Pittsburgh this season, they have looked like a completely different team. Which means the Pittsburgh offense will have plenty of opportunities to win this game as long as Skenes it’s as dominant as usual and shuts down this talented New York Mets lineup.
Pittsburgh finds themselves in a similar situation as New York as they have been hovering below the .500 mark coming into this game. They are 41-45 through their first 86 games of the season and they will look to pick up a pivotal victory here in this one as they look to gain ground on the third spot in the National League wildcard race. Pittsburgh will also look to snap their current two game losing streak after a rough series throughout the week as they look to get back on track over the weekend at home against the New York Mets. Skenes comes into this game 4-0 on the season, and he will look to remain undefeated as well as pick up his fifth victory of the season and his career with a solid performance here in this one.
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- Pittsburgh is 24-20 after a loss
- New York is 20-22 after a loss
- Pittsburgh is 7-2 when Skenes starts; he is 4-0
Due to the starting pitching matchup, we see in this game on Friday night I do expect this contest to be close and competitive throughout the early and middle innings. However, by the end of the game, I look for the Pittsburgh Pirates to come out on top against the New York Mets thanks to a masterclass by young rookie Paul Skenes on the mound. He has been fantastic during his time in the MLB throughout the early part of the season and I look for that to continue as he leads his team to a much-needed victory here on Friday night in the opening game of this series.
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