NY Mets (Dickey) at Arizona (Saunders)
Recommendation: New York 1st 5-inning and Game
New York will try to even the series in Arizona Sunday afternoon against the Diamondbacks. The Mets will send knuckleball master RA Dickey to the mound in this contest. We all know the motivating story by now, as Dickey will continue with his storybook season. The numbers speak for themselves with the right-hander showing a gaudy 13-2 record with a sweet 2.97 ERA to match. Of course, there’s nothing fluky about the number with Dickey striking out a batter per inning, and also garnering groundballs by the bushel full. Importantly, the roof at Chase Field will be closed for this game, which coincides with the perfect controlled environment the knuckleball specialist can thrive in. Finally, Dickey isn’t well known for these Snake batters. Meanwhile, left-handed Joe Saunders will climb the hill for the Diamondbacks. Saunders is what he is; a southpaw innings eater with a 5-6 record. He’s always shown a split, while weaker against the right-handed bat. The Mets will feature a bevy of right-handed batters in their lineup to provide difficulties for Saunders. We’ll call for Dickey to return to his outlandish form and shutdown Arizona on Sunday. I recommend making two plays in this game. One on the full game, but an equal wager with the Mets on the five-inning line as well.
