Posted Tuesday, July 22, 2008 09:44 AM
First place in the NL East is on the line when the New York Mets (53-46, -2.32 units, 28-18 home) host the Philadelphia Phillies (53-46, -2.28 units, 25-28 away) in a three-game series beginning Tuesday night at Shea Stadium.
BetJamaica.com has the Mets as –172 favorites for the opener, which gets underway at 7:10 PM ET. Ace Johan Santana (8-7, 3.10 ERA) moves up a day to start for New York, as Pedro Martinez rests his strained groin.
Joe Blanton (5-12, 4.96 ERA) makes his Phillies debut after coming over from the Oakland Athletics, and he’ll in tough against a Mets team that has cashed in eight of its last ten games. BetJamaica oddsmakers have dogged Blanton, listing the righthander and his Phillies at +162 with an 8-run total on the board for tonight.
Philadelphia heads into the showdown after dropping two of three against the Florida Marlins. Clay Condrey took the loss in relief of starter Cole Hamels in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Fish as –153 road faves, while slugger Ryan Howard went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in.
The Mets have cooled off SU after winning ten in a row earlier this month, splitting a series with the Cincinnati Reds last weekend. New York took Sunday’s finale 7-5, cashing for backers as +133 road dogs. Duaner Sanchez picked up the win after coming in for starter Mike Pelfrey, as Ramon Castro was 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs.
New York leads the season series 7-3, including taking three of four from Philly earl... [More]