MLB Odds – Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets

My Monday night MLB predictions takes us to Citi Field where the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets will partake in the first of three baseball betting battles with both clubs looking to turn the page on a very disappointing weekend.

The Cubs took the first of their three-game weekend set with the Houston Astros on Friday, but Roy Oswalt shut them down on Saturday and then Carlos Marmol blew his first save of the year on Sunday which set Houston up for the extra innings win yesterday afternoon.

The Mets played a ton of baseball in St. Louis over the weekend having played in the 7+ hour 20 inning game on Saturday. With the series tied at a game apiece heading into last night’s game, the Mets failed to hold onto a 3-0 lead and dropped the fourth straight betting series to start their 2010 campaign.

Chicago Cubs (5-7, -$334) vs. New York Mets (4-8, -$497)

Game Date/Time: Monday, April 19th, 7:10 ET
Game Location: Citi Field, New York, NY
TV/Radio Broadcast: ESPN, SNY, XM

MLB Odds

Chicago Cubs -1.5 +135 -130
(Randy Wells – R)
New York Mets +1.5 -155 +110
(Jonathon Niese – L)
Total 8 O -115 8 U -105

The Cubs have won each of RHP Randy Wells first two starts of the season; he gets his third call to the bump 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA & 1.54 WHIP along with an 8/3 K/BB ratio. He has however allowed 16 hits in just 12.1 total innings of work, and opponents are batting .327 against him.

After shutting the Braves out in his first outing of the season, Wells was hit hard against the Milwaukee Brewers in his 2010 Wrigley debut. The second year starter allowed 10 hits and four ER’s while K’ing seven and walking only one. A late Cubs rally got him off the hook for the loss.

He fared very well in his first career look at the Mets last season where he tossed six innings of two run (1 ER) ball at Citi Field; Chicago lost 4-2.

Looking to get into the win column for the first time this season will be LHP Jonathon Niese, and he’ll be doing it against the first team to beat him when he made just the third start of his MLB career back in September of 2008.

The southpaw has gotten off to quite a rocky start his season. He enters his third outing of the year 0-1 with a bloated 6.55 ERA having given up 17 hits and eight ER’s through 11 total innings of work.

He too was taken off the hook for a loss after the Mets rallied to force the game into extra’s against the Rockies in his last start, but the Mets ended up losing 6-5. Niese is 0-1 lifetime against the Cubs with a lofty 18.00 ERA.

MLB Insider Tip: I simply do not believe in the Cubs enough to back them as short road chalk in this spot. The offense is yet to get humming, and the bullpen has been a freaking nightmare; just ask Ryan Dempster how he feels about the guys backing him up.

The Cubs have tallied victories in just six of their L/19 trips to the Big Apple, and they’re eight-games under .500 on the road the L/3 seasons (79-87).

Niese may not have the endurance needed to go deep against better than average offensive attacks, but the Cubs are hardly that, and he’s got the second best ranked bullpen backing him up.

Because of that, I’m backing the short dogged Mets as my MLB prediction in this one.

My MLB Prediction: New York Mets (Niese)