Season Opener for Lopez - New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies

Friday, July 3

BetUS MLB betting matchup :

Livan Hernandez (5-3, 4.04 ERA) gets the assignment for the Mets, while fellow right-hander Rodrigo Lopez makes his first start of the season for the Phillies.

Here are some of the MLB Baseball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* NY has lost five of its last six games
* NY has lost four of its last five road games
* PHIL has lost 11 of its last 14 games
* PHIL has lost five of its last seven road games

In the HEAD-TO-HEAD sports betting trends:

* NY has won five of the last eight meetings
* NY has won five of the last seven meetings as the road team

When the Mets got 7-2/3 scoreless innings from Michael Pelfrey on Wednesday night, it came at the right time because it broke a five-game losing streak and brought them to within two games of the division-leading Phillies. However, they are not even safe from their own alumni in terms of getting ripped. Here is former John Franco, as he was heard on a Sirius Radio show:

I think they have maybe too much individuality, where guys are worried about their own stats instead of worrying about getting the guy over....You're only as good as your players, and if they can't go out there and do the job, it's making the manager look bad......"And if they don't win, guys pack their bags and they go home for winter and they say, 'Okay, I get my paycheck and that's it.' So something's not right there."

The Mets have lost Livan Hernandez's last four starts. The grizzled veteran righty has pitched very well in the last three of those outings, though, going seven innings in each, allowing a total of seven earned runs. If you want to extend that out a little, Hernandez has been close to outstanding in six of his last eight, and that has to come as a surprise to some people, considering that he came to the Mets originally as someone who signed a minor league contract in the off-season.

Rodrigo Lopez was a reliable starter for the Baltimore Orioles, going 15-9 with a 3.57 ERA in 2002 and 14-9 with a 3.59 ERA two years later. He led the American League in losses in 2006 with 18. His major league career record is 65-65. He hasn't started a game since 2007. During spring training, he signed a minor league contract with the Phils, and was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he went 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his last three starts. This is a comeback in more ways than one for him, as he underwent elbow ligament surgery two years ago. His promotion came after Antonio Bastardo, the impressive rookie, went down with a shoulder injury.

As much as we'd like to see a feel-good story on the part of Lopez, the Phillies don't show us much at home, with a poor 13-22 record that has prevented them from taking control of things in the NL East. Even though they have scored more than three runs just once in a seven-game period through Wednesday, we're going with the Mets, and Hernandez, in the BetUS National League betting odds on Friday.

JAY'S PLAY: N.Y. METS **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)