After a lengthy road trip and being swept over the weekend by the Seattle Mariners, the New York Mets will be glad to be back in Queens tonight when they open a 3-game set with the 50-69 Oakland Athletics. The 61-57 Mets are just ½ game back of the Atlanta Braves for the final NL Wild Card spot but if they want to stay in the hunt, they have to take care of business at home against the bottom feeding Athletics and they know it. New York will send the ex-Athletic, Paul Blackburn, to the hill. Blackburn will be extra motivated to put the screws to his old team and prove they made a mistake when they dealt him to New York. He is 5-2 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. The Mets’ bats have been ice cold but I expect Alonso and company will change that tonight when they face the A’s expected starter, Ross Stripling. Stripling is just 2-11 with an elevated ERA of 5.72, a 1.47 WHIP, and hasn’t won a game since July 25th. New York has the edge in runs scored, run differential, hits, batting average, and is the side to consider tonight.
TONIGHT’S PICK: NEW YORK METS