MLB picks: Mets vs. Marlins, Mariners vs. Dodgers

The New York Mets and Miami Marlins will renew acquaintances Monday night, while the Seattle Mariners will pay the Los Angeles Dodgers a rare visit.

Here are our best bets for the evening.

New York Mets at Miami Marlins

The struggling pitching staffs of the Mets and Marlins will play a large part in this series-opening game exceeding the total.

Robert Gsellman has been shoehorned back into the Mets’ rotation, after he pitched exclusively in relief over the last two seasons. He is 11-9, with a 4.71 ERA and 1.456 WHIP, as a starter, with just 6.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Bettors should not expect him to last long, after he tossed just two innings in his first start of 2020, so the Marlins will get plenty of looks at New York’s beleaguered bullpen, which is 19th in both ERA (4.62) and opponent batting average (.241).

Jordan Yamamoto, who will counter for Miami, has looked awful in his first two outings of the year and has a 9.82 ERA. The cracks are starting to show in the Marlins’ bullpen, which has a 5.66 ERA over the last seven days (21st in the majors in that span).

MLB pick: Over

Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers’ offense was firing on all cylinders against the Angels over the weekend (21 runs in a three-game sweep), but oddsmakers seem to have forgotten Dodger Stadium is a pitcher’s park and how starved for offense the Mariners are. Under bettors should be all over this one.

Seattle starter Justin Dunn is among the club’s best prospects and just picked up his first victory in a solid effort against Texas a week ago, in which he surrendered two earned runs over six innings. The Mariners bullpen hasn’t had much to celebrate this year but showed signs of life over the last week of play, with a 4.50 ERA (12th in the majors in that span).

Ross Stripling will toe the rubber for L.A., and his three earned runs allowed over 11 2/3 innings at home this year are right in line with his 2019 home splits that saw him yield a lower ERA (3.12 compared to 3.80 on the road) and opponent batting average (.233 compared to .254 in away games).

He has drawn a favorable matchup with Seattle’s league-worst offense, which has plated just 3.74 runs per game. Stripling can have faith in a brilliant Dodger bullpen that tops the majors in ERA (1.43).

MLB pick: Under