The opening days of the 2026 MLB season have been an absolute blast to watch, and as we head into the second weekend of action on the diamond, there are plenty of games for fans and bettors alike to choose from.
The New York Mets (4-4) and San Francisco Giants (3-5) have split the first two games of this three-game set in the Bay Area. On Saturday night, they finish the series out with game three at 9:05 p.m. ET.
Here’s a betting prediction and pick for today’s Mets vs. Giants matchup courtesy of MLB odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Mets vs. Giants prediction, preview
The Mets took their opening series against the Pirates but dropped their second one against the Cardinals, so it’s been a mixed bag to start the season. The biggest issue tonight will be the absence of Juan Soto, who suffered a calf injury last night and will undergo imaging sometime today. He was hitting .355 with the team lead in knocks, so he’ll be greatly missed while out of the lineup. The Mets are averaging 4.38 runs per game with a .705 OPS that ranks 14th. Their slash line of .230/.327/.378 means they may be in a little trouble without Soto, but we won’t write them off by any means, especially this early. A .147 ISO and eight homers are also respectable, but a 0.55 BB/K is perhaps the most impressive aspect of this offense. The Mets’ pitchers have been excellent too, bringing the fifth-best ERA at 2.89 and a 1.25 WHIP. Plus, they’re 11th in K-BB% at 15.5%.
The Giants were swept by the Yankees in their opening series but rallied to beat the Padres in their second set. The offense isn’t yet firing on all cylinders with just 3.00 runs per game, but one can expect the numbers to normalize with a little bit of time. Still, they’re second-to-last in OPS at .599 with a .218/.281/.318 slash line. The power bats certainly haven’t done much with a .100 ISO and only four homers. San Francisco is also 25th in BB/K ratio at 0.31, so the plate approach hasn’t been great either. Just about every player not named Luis Arraez or Casey Schmitt has an OBP below .300, so there’s plenty of work to be done. The Giants’ pitchers have a collective ERA of 4.31 (though their FIP is only 3.99) to go with a 1.31 WHIP. A 25.3% K% looks good enough and they’re 12th in K-BB% at 15.5%, but it hasn’t been enough to look like a stable team yet.
For the Mets, RHP Clay Holmes will start tonight. In his opening matchup of 2026, he went 5.2 innings with four hits and two earned runs allowed, striking out five batters and walking three. Last season, he finished with a 3.53 ERA and 1.30 WHIP ober his 165.2 IP, striking out 129.
For the Giants, it’ll be RHP Landen Roupp with the ball in his hand. He went six shutout innings in his season debut, striking out seven while allowing only two hits and two walks. He recorded a 3.80 ERA and 1.48 WHIP last season with 102 Ks in 106.2 IP.
Mets vs. Giants pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Mets as slight -112 Moneyline favorites on the road this Saturday. The Giants are listed at -108 odds to win outright with the run total set at eight between these sides.
Best Bet: Under eight runs (-119)
Neither offense is scoring runs at a stellar rate through the early days of the season, and assuming Soto is out, that’s a massive hit to the Mets’ outlook at the dish. You can do the math on what you think these teams can achieve, but I think Roupp looked really good in his opener and Holmes played a solid game himself. These pitchers are far from poor and the Giants are in really poor offensive form. I don’t think there’ll be much scoring, especially since both starters were 69th percentile or better in ground ball rate last season.
