The New York Mets took care of the White Sox and Rockies accordingly last week, and were rewarded with a return to first place in the NL East.
Now, they’ll look to ride that momentum into a four-game series with the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The same Dodgers the Mets took two of three from in Flushing just over a week ago.
They’ll look to keep up that momentum and upset the Dodgers again, and this time with righty Paul Blackburn making his season debut.
Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
TV: SNY
Run Line: Mets +1.5, O/U 9.5
Pitching Matchup: Paul Blackburn (Season debut) vs Dustin May (3-4, 4.20 ERA). It’s officially go time for Blackburn, who missed the first two months of the season with a knee injury. The 31-year-old righty was acquired from the Athletics at the trade deadline last year and…wasn’t great. Blackburn was 1-2 with a 5.18 ERA in five starts with the Mets and didn’t really underachieve.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how both pitchers match against each other. May leans heavily on his sinker and sweeper while Blackburn is a fastball/cutter guy who also throws a variety of breaking and offspeed pitches. May’s sample size against the Mets is too small (6.2 innings in two games), and Blackburn has never faced the Dodgers.
Truly tough to call!
X-Factor: Brandon Nimmo. Juan Soto has homered in two straight games, so he gets a break today while we turn the spotlight onto Nimmo. The fan favorite is having a rough go of 2025 thus far, batting .231 with only 17 walks in 219 plate appearances. His walk rate (BB%) is 7.8%, down almost four percentage points from last season.
This time, however, the Mets will need Nimmo in top form. He’s a .302 lifetime hitter against the Dodgers, but only managed one at-bat against them in the recent series. A stiff neck kept him on the bench. The Mets really need him to get going if they want to stay in first place.
Prediction: If you find yourself browsing New York sports betting apps today, I’ll make it easy for you: Dodgers run line and the over, plus hitting parlays for Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. The defending champs are just too aggressive on the fastball and could easily come out swinging against the returning Blackburn. Sorry, folks, but this could be an ugly one.
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