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New York and Washington square-off at Nationals Park this Tuesday night

The Mets come into this week’s three-game set trailing Washington by 6.5 games in the NL East, but they are just 3.5 games out of the final wildcard spot. They have lost five of their last six games including a three-game sweep at the hands of Atlanta on the road this past weekend. The New York Mets are now 46-43 overall and under .500 on the road at 20-23. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of its last five games.

Consistency at the plate continues to be a problem for the Mets despite the fact that they are ranked fourth in the NL in scoring with 407 total runs. Their pitching has also been questionable at times and overall they have a team ERA of 4.08. Jon Niese is slated to get the start in Tuesday’s Game 1. The left-hander gave-up seven runs in seven innings against the Cubs his last time out to fall to 7-4 on the year with a 3.73 ERA. He is 2-0 against the Nationals with a 3.42 ERA.

Washington continues to set the pace in the NL East with a 7-3 record in its last 10 games. It leads Atlanta by three games with an overall record of 51-35. The Nationals have been equally effective no matter where they play with a 27-19 record on the road and a 24-16 record at home. The total has stayed ‘under’ in their last six games.

The Nationals are ranked 10th in the NL in scoring with an average of only 4.16 runs per game, but they have more than made up for this deficiency behind a pitching staff that leads the league with a team ERA of 3.13. Ross Detwiler is expected to get the start for Washington. This left-hander is 4-3 in 12 previous starts and he has an ERA of 3.43. He has failed to earn the decision in his last seven starts, but has given-up a total of eight earned runs over the same stretch of games. Detwiler is 3-0 against the Mets with a 3.60 ERA.

MLB Prediction

Washington is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings and has won two of three against the Mets both on the road and at home this season. The pitching matchup favors a low-scoring contest, but stick with the Nationals to grind-out enough runs to take the early edge in this key divisional series. Washington 4 New York 2