Cincinnati travels to New York to play the Mets for a couple games before taking on the Yankees in Interleague play this weekend. <\/p>\n
Cincinnati Reds vs. New York Mets MLB Betting Preview Matchup<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Preview<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Reds enter this game one game above .500 and second in the NL Central.<\/p>\n New York has been a nice surprise so far this year.<\/p>\n The Mets are 20-16 on the season, but they are just third in the difficult NL East.<\/p>\n Mike Leake has been a solid young pitcher for the Reds in his first couple seasons with the team, but he hasn\u2019t been good at all in 2012.<\/p>\n Leake has an ERA over 7 on the season. He doesn\u2019t have command of his pitches right now, and hitters are making him pay in a big way. On paper, the Reds have one of the better offenses in the National League. So far in 2012, the offense just hasn\u2019t put it together. Joey Votto has heated up of late, and Jay Bruce has been great all year. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n Guys like Brandon Phillips, Drew Stubbs, and Ryan Ludwick have been very disappointing so far this season. The Reds bullpen has been great this year, led by the development of Aroldis Chapman.<\/p>\n Johan Santana is back in a big way in 2012. Many expected Santana to struggle out of the gates this year, but he has been terrific. Santana has only allowed more than three earned runs once all year. David Wright is batting .408 to lead the Mets offense. Wright has an amazing .497 on-base-percentage.<\/p>\n Daniel Murphy has been red hot of late, and he comes into this game with an 11 game hitting streak on the line. New York has the sixth best team batting average in the majors.<\/p>\n The Mets bullpen has an ERA over 5, so that is a real area of concern for this team moving forward.<\/p>\n The Reds are 0-4 in Leake\u2019s last 4 starts. The Mets are 6-1 in their last 7 home games.<\/p>\n Santana gives the Mets a major edge in the pitching matchup here.<\/p>\n
\nStarting Pitchers: Cincinnati (Leake) vs. New York (Santana)
\nDate\/Time: May 16, 7:10 p.m. EST
\nMLB Gambling Odds from TopBet
\nMoneyline: New York (-135) Cincinnati (+125)
\nRunline: Mets -1.5 (+155) Reds +1.5 (-175)
\nTotal: 7.5<\/strong><\/p>\n