Dodgers vs. Mets MLB Picks and Predictions

The New York Mets aren’t quite dead yet. After spending 90 days atop the National League East, the Mets lost seven of eight to fall to third place in the division earlier this week. Let’s take a look at the MLB odds for the game.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets

Friday, 13 August 2021 – 7:10 PM EDT at Citi Field

After losing four straight series, however, New York bounced back to sweep the Washington Nationals in three straight, including both ends of a Wednesday doubleheader. That put the Mets a half-game behind the Phillies in the NL East.

In order to take back the top, however, New York will need to beat the best of the West. The Mets’ next 13 games will be against the NL West leading San Francisco Giants and the defending world champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The bi-coastal baker’s dozen starts with a three-game home series against the Dodgers.

The series starts on Friday the 13th, which typifies Los Angeles’ season. The Dodgers have seen just about every key player spend time on the injured list this season, often with multiple trips to the shelf. The latest is Mookie Betts, who is out with a hip problem. The Dodgers are five games behind the Giants and are still waiting for the hot streak everyone expects to come at some point.

Playing Through It

Despite the injury woes, which, in addition to Betts, include Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner, the Dodgers have been playing well, winning four of five and seven of the last 10. The Giants have matched L.A.’s hot streak, however, keeping the Dodgers from making up any ground in the West.

The Dodgers are among baseball’s best in offense, pitching and defense. Thursday’s loss to the Phillies showed what’s kept Los Angeles out of the top spot this season, however. The loss was the season in microcosm. The Dodgers went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded in the ninth to fall to an MLB worst 13-21 in one-run games. A team that has been missing one or two stars virtually every game this year seems to keep falling one play short in close games.

Despite being held to just three singles in the Phillies loss, there are positive signs on offense. Cody Bellinger homered in four straight games through Wednesday, and Corey Seager hit .316 in his first 10 games after coming off the (of course) injured list.

The Dodgers will start Julio Urias on Friday. The southpaw is having a breakout season, going 13-3 with a 3.41 ERA. He’s 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA since July 1 and gives the Dodgers almost six innings a start.

Well-Timed Series

After losing series’ to the Braves, Reds, Phillies and last place Marlins, the Mets caught a team that’s in an even worse tailspin than they are. The Nationals have now won just one of their last 10 games since a trade deadline fire sale and helped New York get its groove back. Now the Mets need to show they can keep it going against contenders as the Dodgers come to town. It starts a two week stretch during which the Mets host both L.A. and San Francisco, play the same two teams in California and play no one else.

Make or break, do or die: all the cliches fit the upcoming stretch against the best in the NL West that will go a long way toward determining whether the Mets can hang around in the National League East. “This is a ‘show me’ stretch,” Pete Alonso said. “What are we made of?”

26-year-old rookie Tylor Megill will get the series started for the Mets. He’s gone 1-2 with a 3.20 ERA and been the bright spot in the rotation since getting called up as an emergency starter when three Mets pitchers hit the injured list.

He’s struck out 48 in 45 innings, and the Mets have won six of his nine starts. “Tylor wasn’t even in the plans,” said manager Luis Rojas. “He put himself in the plans.”

The Pick

It’s easy to look at Thursday’s action and jump to the wrong conclusion when making your MLB pick. The Dodgers had a tough day, while the Mets swept one of the worst teams in baseball’s worst division. Overall, Los Angeles has been playing well of late, and the Mets will need to prove they can keep winning when the degree of difficulty is raised. The pitching matchup tilts this heavily in favor of the Dodgers.

MLB Pick: Dodgers (-144) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)

Dodgers ML(-144)

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*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.

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