The Mets are taking on the Giants on Thursday night at Oracle Park. First pitch is set for 9:45 p.m. ET. The Mets are starting David Peterson, while the Giants are starting Robbie Ray.
New York is a -126 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while San Francisco sits at +104 on the moneyline. The game total is set at O/U 7.5 runs.
Giants vs. Mets Preview
Mets Preview
It has been an up-and-down start to the 2026 season for the New York Mets. This is a team with World Series aspirations, but there are a lot of new pieces that New York is trying to put into place. Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., Carson Benge, Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien are five new everyday starters for the Mets, not to mention the new arms in the pitching stable. On Opening Day, the lineup seemed to click perfectly, as the Mets scored 11 runs. However, New York is coming off back-to-back losses in St. Louis, where they combined to score just one run across those two games. Only time will tell whether this lineup will work long-term.
The good news for the Mets is that tonight’s starter, David Peterson, looked great in his first outing of the season. Peterson pitched 5.1 shutout innings against the Pirates last week. The Mets are hoping to have the David Peterson from the first-half of last season. Peterson was excellent in the first half of 2025, recording a 3.06 ERA, which earned him his first-ever All-Star Game appearance. However, things fell apart for Peterson in the second half, and he ended up with a 6.34 ERA in the second half of 2025. Peterson certainly looked more like his first-half self in his initial start and will hope to keep that going here.
Giants Preview
The Giants were swept by the Yankees in their initial series of the season. However, they bounced back nicely by winning a series against the Padres. San Francisco has a nice travel advantage over New York, despite it being so early in the season. The Giants are yet to leave the state of California, after hosting the Yankees in the opening series and traveling down to San Diego in the following series. Meanwhile, this will already be the third time zone that the Mets have played in this year, after going from New York to St. Louis to San Francisco.
The Giants are sending Robbie Ray out onto the bump tonight. Ray threw 5.1 innings and gave up two runs in his first start of the season against the Yankees. Ray had a great 2025 season, finishing with a 3.65 ERA and starting 32 games. Just like David Peterson, Robbie Ray also earned himself an All-Star spot. Ray had only pitched eight total games the two previous seasons combined, so it was a nice bounce-back season for the former Cy Young winner. If Ray can stay healthy again this season, he should be able to put up solid numbers for the second consecutive season.
Giants vs. Mets Pick, Best Bet
My best bet for this game is on the under 7.5 total runs. The Mets have pitched well so far this season, but the lineup has struggled since Opening Day. Since that explosion in the first game of the season, New York has not scored more than four runs in a game. Robbie Ray should be able to keep the Mets’ lineup under control, just like he did against the Yankees. The Giants’ bullpen has also been great, with a 1.93 ERA this season.
While the Mets’ lineup is hard to trust, the pitching has been strong. David Peterson didn’t give up a run in his first start and he should turn in another good outing against the Giants. Meanwhile, the Mets’ bullpen has been nearly as good as San Francisco’s, sporting a 2.25 ERA this season. These two pitching staffs should win the day and keep the total under 7.5 runs.
