New York will be buzzing on Sunday night as the Yankees take on the Mets in a match that is expected to be thrilling.
Subway Series Rubber Match on Tap for Sunday Night
The MLB week concludes on Sunday night with the New York Yankees taking on the New York Mets. After the Mets dominated the Yankees into submission on Friday night, the Yankees eked out a back-and-forth affair on Saturday despite blowing a 5-0 lead. That sets up a rubber match for Sunday night with both teams desperate to win for the sake of their fading playoff hopes.
The latest MLB betting odds have nearly even odds for this matchup. At home, the Mets have a money line of 105 while the Yankees have a money line of -115.
Playoffs?
The playoffs are becoming increasingly unlikely for the Mets, who fell a game under .500 with Saturday’s loss. They’ve now lost four of their last six games and don’t exactly have a favorable schedule coming down the stretch. Nevertheless, the team from Queens is five games behind the Braves in the NL West and just four games out of a Wild Card spot.
As for the Yankees, Saturday’s win finally put an end to a seven-game losing streak. Beating the Mets on Saturday also means that Sunday’s game kicks off a stretch of 11 straight games against teams with a losing record. However, things couldn’t be tighter with the Yankees currently tied with Toronto for the second Wild Card spot in the American League.
Building a Mystery
As of Sunday morning, the Yankees are yet to name a starter for Sunday’s game. After being demoted to the bullpen last month, Andrew Heaney is one option, although he owns a 7.71 ERA since being traded to the Yankees. Rookie Clarke Schmidt could also be called up for a start with the bullpen likely doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
The good news is that the Yankees have started to break out of their offensive funk in recent days. They scored eight runs on Saturday with help from two home runs from Aaron Judge and now have 15 runs over their last games. However, the Yankees are still waiting for the other parts of their lineup to come alive.
Will the Real Carlos Carrasco Please Stand Up
It’s been nothing short of a roller coaster for Carlos Carrasco this season over his first eight starts of the season. He’s had some truly dreadful outings, which explains his ugly 5.88 ERA. However, things have slowly improved over his last four starts, with Carrasco finally winning his previous start.
Of course, the Mets remain a problem offensively. While they’ve slugged their way to 17 runs over the first two games of the series, they’ve also scored three runs or less in four of their last eight games and can go cold without warning. The silver lining is that the power is there, with Pete Alonso and Javier Baez hitting three home runs over their last seven games.
Flip a Coin
It’s worth keeping an eye on the betting odds once the Yankees make it clear who their starting pitcher is for Sunday’s game. However, no matter the choice, their pitching situation is a little unsettling for the series finale. Of course, the Mets aren’t sure about what they’ll get out of Carrasco, who has struggled to produce anything close to a quality start this season.
That being said, the Mets have a surprising edge in this game when scoring runs. They’ve scored a healthy run total in both games of this series, getting plenty of help from the Yankees playing subpar defense. With the Yankees unsure about who they’re sending to the mound, it’s just barely enough to take a chance on the Mets winning the rubber match of this series on Sunday night.
