MLB ACTION TOP PLAY!!!...Take Montreal at -140 to beat New York (N.L.)!...The Mets send young 23 year old starter Dicky Gonzalez to the hill. Gonzalez had stellar numbers in the minors but they have rushed him too quickly and he's failing miserably. Gonzalez, who in his minor league career displayed excellent control with 1 walk per every 5 innings pitched has lost it allowing one per every 1.81 inning pitched. Overall this season he's allowed 32 hits/walks in 16.1 innings pitched. That's an average of 2 baserunners per inning and he's consistently done just that in each of the 4 games he's pitched in this season. We would of understood his Colorado performance but he has indeed done it in every game. Gonzalez has a 6.61 ERA, 7.90 ERA as a starter, 8.68 road ERA, the league is hitting .329 against him including hitting .366 against him on the road. He allows a .364 average to left handed batters, allows a .345 avg with runners on, and a .305 average with runners in scoring position. His tendency is to come out strong and then fall apart in innings 3-6....The Mets as a team are 1-6 in their last 7 road games and over that stretch have only managed to muster up 20 runs for an average of 2.85 runs per game over their last 7 away games. They have scored 14 runs in 4 games @ Montreal this season. On the flip side, in those same 4 games Montreal has scored 28 runs, doubling the Mets output. The Mets are 1-3 at Montreal this season. New York is 7-16 on the road, hit .246 vs. right handed pitchers, hit .248 away, .248 with runners on, .235 on turf, .216 from the 7th inning on, and have hit a weak .221 in 190 at bats vs. Montreal this season. The Mets have a team road ERA of 6.83, have a team ERA in May of 5.79, have a 9.38 ERA on turf, and a 6.18 ERA vs. the Expos this season. The league hits .291 vs. Met starters, the league hits .321 when the Mets come to visit, including .295 with runners on and .274 with those runners in scoring position. Cold Met hitters over the last 10 days include: Agbayani .125, Bragg .227, Hamilton .100, T.Perez .200, Piazza .182, Ventura .250, and Zeile .241...
On the flip side, Montreal sends stud starter Tony Armas to the hill and he's looked good as of late. Armas has a 3.51 ERA this season, has won 3 of his last 5 starts, has 7 career innings vs. New York in which he's only yielded 3 hits and no earned runs, and has looked damn good in his last 2 home starts going 13 innings, allowing 10 hits/walks, while not allowing any earned runs and fanning 14 batters! Armas has a whip of 1.20 (excellent), a 2.59 home ERA (nasty), has a 2.88 ERA in May, has a 2.59 ERA on turf, and a 3.07 ERA in night games. The league is only hitting .221 against him, right handed batters only hit .200 against him, he only allows a .179 average to opposing hitters when pitching in Montreal, allows a .224 average with runners on including a .200 average with those runners in scoring position. He's only allowed a .196 average to right handed hitters over the last 3 years which is stellar and a .217 average to opposing hitters with men in scoring position! The Expos hit 33 points higher at home than they do on the road, have hit .283 vs. the Mets this season, have a 2.77 ERA vs. the Mets this season, and opponents only hit .253 at Montreal. We wanted to make a case for the under as well however we don't know how bad Gonzalez will get hit making Montreal on the side the play here! Good luck!
On the flip side, Montreal sends stud starter Tony Armas to the hill and he's looked good as of late. Armas has a 3.51 ERA this season, has won 3 of his last 5 starts, has 7 career innings vs. New York in which he's only yielded 3 hits and no earned runs, and has looked damn good in his last 2 home starts going 13 innings, allowing 10 hits/walks, while not allowing any earned runs and fanning 14 batters! Armas has a whip of 1.20 (excellent), a 2.59 home ERA (nasty), has a 2.88 ERA in May, has a 2.59 ERA on turf, and a 3.07 ERA in night games. The league is only hitting .221 against him, right handed batters only hit .200 against him, he only allows a .179 average to opposing hitters when pitching in Montreal, allows a .224 average with runners on including a .200 average with those runners in scoring position. He's only allowed a .196 average to right handed hitters over the last 3 years which is stellar and a .217 average to opposing hitters with men in scoring position! The Expos hit 33 points higher at home than they do on the road, have hit .283 vs. the Mets this season, have a 2.77 ERA vs. the Mets this season, and opponents only hit .253 at Montreal. We wanted to make a case for the under as well however we don't know how bad Gonzalez will get hit making Montreal on the side the play here! Good luck!
