Ala Hann Sport picks

After two consecutive seasons where the New York Mets crashed and burned at the end of the year, the betting experts did not give the Mets much of a chance to do well in the 2010 season. The Mets were given +1500 odds to win the World Series when the season started. In NFL football betting it only matters what a team did in the current season that affects the odds, but in baseball a team can be haunted by previous seasons.

The Mets showed signs of life in late June and early July making a run at the Atlanta Braves and the NL East pennant. But in the last few weeks the Mets have started to show the familiar signs of collapse, and the MLB betting world has seen enough of these Mets to know what is coming next. The Mets are now +5000 to win the World Series, and that number gets higher every day.

The Philadelphia Phillies had high expectations for the 2010 season. With the addition of Cy Young winning pitcher Roy Halladay and power hitting Ryan Howard at the plate, the Phillies were a pre-season contender given +1000 odds on winning the World Series. But the Phillies have spent all season chasing a young Atlanta Braves team in the NL East standings and making very little ground. In the last few weeks the Phillies bats have finally come alive, and the Phillies are now knocking on the Braves’ door at the top of the NL East.

For a while it looked like betting on college football was going to be the main sporting activity in Philadelphia until the Eagles started their NFL season. The Phillies have one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball, and now they are finally getting run support from Ryan Howard and the rest of the Phillies bats. Howard is still nursing an ankle injury and is questionable for this game, but the rest of the Phillies line-up seems more than able to score runs in Howard’s absence.

The Mets have a tall order ahead of them. If they want to make the playoffs their best chance is to win the NL East. They are eight games out of the NL Wild Card spot, and it is not likely that the Mets will be able to get past the San Francisco Giants or Colorado Rockies. The Mets trail the NL East leading Braves by six and a half games, and the Mets have some key series coming up that will decide their playoff future.

In this important game the Mets are putting Jon Niese on the mound. Niese has a 7-5 record and a 3.78 ERA for the season. Niese is not having the kind of season he would like to be having, but Mets manager Jerry Manuel thought enough of Niese’s recent performances to skip Hisanori Takahashi in the starting rotation so that Niese could start this game.

The Phillies will be putting Joe Blanton on the mound. Blanton’s 4-6 record and his 5.86 ERA are indicative of the kind of season he has had. Unfortunately for the Phillies, Blanton gives the Mets a chance in this game.

Pick: New York Mets 5-2

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