The second game of the series between the Mets and Brewers gets underway on Wednesday as the second part of a doubleheader at Citi Field. Below, I break down my prediction and pick.
Blade Tidwell is scheduled to pitch for New York, while Jacob Misiorowski will take the mound for Milwaukee.
Mets vs. Brewers prediction, preview
Blade Tidwell is making his fourth career start in the second game of the doubleheader between the Mets and Brewers. The Mets have needed Tidwell to make several spot starts this season due to injuries in their rotation, but Tidwell has now been a mainstay the last couple of times through the rotation.
It hasn’t been a great start to Tidwell’s MLB career. His first start was a disaster, giving up nine hits and six earned runs against the Cardinals in 3.2 innings. Things have improved slightly with Tidwell giving up six runs combined over his past two starts, but he can’t give the Mets enough innings. Tidwell is yet to make it four full innings in any of his three starts this season. That puts a lot of pressure on the Mets’ bullpen, which will already be stretched thin due to the doubleheader.
Jacob Misiorowski is also a rookie who is making his fourth career start in this game. However, unlike Tidwell, it has been a promising start to Misiorowski’s career. He has gone at least five innings in all three of his starts and has only given up two total runs across those three outings. In fact, in 16 career innings in the majors, Misiorowski has only given up three hits. The big right-hander has a 1.13 ERA and is averaging over 10 strikeouts per nine innings. The bullpen has not been as sharp for the Brewers. They rank in the bottom 10 of bullpen ERA, which sits at 4.23. If Misiorowski can throw a few great innings again, it will be on the bullpen to secure a win for Milwaukee in the second part of this doubleheader.
Mets vs. Brewers pick, best bet
Heading into today’s doubleheader, the Mets have lost 13 of their past 16 games. That terrible run of form has seen them drop out of first place in the NL East just a couple of weeks after having the best record in baseball. Meanwhile, the Brewers have won eight of their past 10 games and are back in the race for the NL Central. This is a big series for both teams as they could be competing for an NL Wild Card spot at the end of the season. Both teams are putting out very inexperienced pitchers, but Misiorowski has been far superior compared to Tidwell. The Brewers should get at least a couple of runs up against Tidwell early and force the Mets to go to their limited bullpen in the second game of a doubleheader.
While Misiorowski has been great, he is averaging just 5.1 innings per start. That still requires a big performance from the Milwaukee bullpen, which has not been great this season. The Mets’ offense needs a spark, and it could come in the form of Juan Soto. Soto has been by far their best player over this bad run as a team. Over the last 28 days, he is batting .329 with a 1.177 OPS and averaging over a hit per game. He’s also averaging a home run every other game over the past two weeks. The Mets should generate some offense against the Brewers’ bullpen and have a chance to win the game.
Both teams should be able to get runs on the board, so I am taking the over 8.5 runs. Additionally, I am taking each team’s hottest hitter, Christian Yelich and Juan Soto, to register a hit in this game. That same-game parlay comes out to +250 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
