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The New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds square off on Wednesday with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. EST. The game takes place at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. David Peterson will be on the hill for New York while the Reds will hand the ball to Graham Ashcraft, who is making just his ninth career start.
The Reds are, well, the Reds. It’s well documented how horribly they started the season with just three wins in the entire month of April. They haven’t set the world on fire since then, but they’ve been much better than they were at least. Cincy has won 10 of its last 30 games, which obviously still isn’t great. They did beat this Mets team yesterday though and have won two of their last three games overall. Ashcraft is a young pitcher who isn’t getting a ton of run support most of the time. In his last start, he gave up seven earned runs in just 2.1 innings tossed. But before that, he rattled off four wins in his previous six appearances and only gave up 11 earned runs in that 37-inning span, with six of those coming in one contest.
The Mets started the season in the exact opposite fashion as their opponents did, getting off to a crazy fast start to take command of the NL East. Recently though they’ve started to let other teams catch up to them, with the Atlanta Braves sitting just 2.5 games back. Peterson has been good this season with an ERA just barely over 3.00 and has given up just 16 earned runs in his last 33 innings pitched. In his last seven games, he hasn’t given up more than four earned runs in any given start.
Mets vs. Reds
Pitchers: David Peterson vs. Grahm Ashcraft
First pitch: 6:40 p.m. EST
Mets local broadcast: SNY
Reds local broadcast: Bally Sports Ohio
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Mets -1.5
Run total: 10
Moneyline odds: Mets -170, Reds +145
Moneyline pick: Mets -170
Ashcraft has been great for the most part this season, but his last appearance does bring up some concerns, especially considering the teams he faced in that great span to start the year weren’t all that spectacular offensively. The Mets bring a powerful lineup into this one and there’s a lot more on the line for them, with teams behind them gaining ground in the division.
Player prop pick: David Peterson over 4.5 strikeouts (-170)
Peterson has yet to face Cincy as a starter, but his strikeout numbers have been really high this season. In his last three starts, he’s tallied seven or more strikeouts in each of them. His last time on the hill he earned 10 strikeouts against the Texas Rangers. Cincy strikes out a good amount too, ranking 18th in the majors with just over 8 per game. In their last three games, the Reds have averaged 11.67 strikeouts per contest.
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