New York Mets Vs. St. Louis Cardinals 6/3/12: Mitch's Free MLB Baseball Pick - Sports Chat Place

The New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals meet for game three of their series at Citi Field.

The New York Mets have been one of the surprises in baseball this season and in the first two games against the Cardinals their pitching and defense have imposed their will. On Saturday David Wright had two hits including a home run and David Murphy and Josh Thole had two hits each as the Mets scored five runs on nine hits for the game. On the Mound R.A. Dickey had his knuckle ball working allowing seven hits and striking out nine over nine innings for the complete game shutout. For Sunday’s game New York starts Jon Niese who has three no decisions, a win, and a loss in his last five starts. For the season Niese has allowed 48 hits and 28 earned runs while striking out 51 over 55.1 innings of work for a 4.55 ERA.

The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t scored a run in two games in New York as they sink even further behind the Reds in the N.L. Central. David Descalso and Shane Robinson had two hits each and Carlos Beltran, Rafael Furcal, and Yadier Molina all had hits as the Cardinals had seven hits but didn’t score a run. On the mound Lance Lynn allowed five hits and three runs while walking four and striking out three over 4.2 innings to take his second loss of the year. For Sunday’s game St. Louis starts Jake Westbrook who has lost his last two decisions and the Cardinals have lost his last four starts. For the season Westbrook has allowed 65 hits and 26 earned runs while striking out 44 over 61 innings of work for a 3.84 ERA.

New York is 5-1 in their last six games against the N.L. Central, 6-2 in their last eight home games, and 0-4 in Niese’s last four starts against a team with a winning record. St. Louis is 2-7 in their last nine games overall, 1-8 in their last nine road games, and 0-4 in Westbrook’s last four starts. St. Louis is 1-5 in their last six games in New York.

The Cardinals are having some serious trouble scoring runs and even winning at all of late and it’s tough to take them in this spot against a Mets team which seems to have things moving in the right direction.