Friday MLB Best Bet: Diamondbacks vs. Mets

Written by Jake Thompson
Friday, 22 April 2011 16:59

Friday’s MLB best bet features the game between the Diamondbacks and Mets.

The Arizona Diamondbacks (8-9) are on the road against the New York Mets (6-13) in Friday’s MLB best bet, and the online sportsbooks have made the home team the small betting favorite with a total of 8.5 runs.  Arizona won 5 of 6 games against the Mets last season and our MLB betting picks will let you know if that impressive streak will continue in this 7:10 PM ET clash.  The Diamondbacks are 4-4 on the road this season while the Mets have stumbled to a putrid 2-8 mark at home.

Left-hander Joe Saunders (0-2, 2.11 WHIP, 6.32 ERA) gets the start for Arizona and it’s been an interesting year to say the least for the 29-year-old pitcher.  He opened his 2011 MLB season by dominating the Cubs over 6 innings before getting rocked by the Cincinnati Reds.  Saunders then allowed 5 earned runs on 12 hits over 6.2 innings against the San Francisco Giants, and it’s a bit tough to pinpoint how he’ll do this time out.  The good news for Saunders is that the Mets are hitting just .234 on the season which includes .209 against lefties, and this will be the first time that New York sees his stuff.  Saunders hasn’t been going deep into games and will hand the ball off to a bullpen with a 3.51 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.

New York has their own question mark starting pitcher in Mike Pelfrey (0-2, 2.34 WHIP, 9.72 ERA), and it will be interesting to see if Arizona can improve on a .245 road average.  The Diamondbacks are hitting .261 on the season and seem much more capable of scoring with the long ball in their small home ballpark.  Pelfrey has been hit hard in all of his starts but his most impressive of the season did come at home in a losing effort against the Colorado Rockies that saw him go 5.1 innings while allowing 10 base runners and 3 earned runs.  Pelfrey has started 4 games against the Diamondbacks in the last two seasons, totaling 18 innings, 28 hits, 9 walks, and 18 earned runs.  All four games were losses and if Pelfrey leaves early this time around, he’ll hand the ball off to a set of relievers averaging a 3.65 ERA but a poor 1.43 WHIP.

The Mets simply are not hitting anything and I believe that Saunders has a better chance for success than Pelfrey because of New York’s inability to hit south paws.  Pelfrey has the skill to put in 6 solid innings but I just can’t count on him with the way he has been throwing the ball this year.  Arizona looks like a nice underdog wager and I’m making them the Friday MLB best bet.

Diamondbacks 4

Mets 3