A’s vs. Mets Preview
NEW YORK (AP) – The weather kept Dillon Gee from matching Dwight Gooden in his last start.
That may be the case again, but the surging Oakland Athletics would like their chance at ending the New York Mets rookie’s long winning streak.
With rain in the forecast for Tuesday in Flushing, Gee looks to match Gooden’s 8-0 start from 23 years ago, while the A’s go for their first six-game winning streak in nearly two years.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog have made the Mets -138 money line favorites for Tuesday’s game against the A’s. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 87% of more than 475 bets for this game have been placed on the Mets -138.
Gee (7-0, 2.86 ERA) is getting a second chance to become the first Mets pitcher to win his first eight decisions in a season since Gooden in 1988. A rain delay of 1 hour, 11 minutes cut the right-hander’s first bid short in Wednesday’s 4-0 win in Atlanta. He yielded one hit in four innings, but didn’t return after the break as three relievers allowed one hit the rest of the way.
“My whole goal is for the team to win when I’m out there,” said Gee, who has allowed one run in 19 innings over his last three starts.
Gee and the Mets (35-37) may be in for another battle with the elements. The forecast for Flushing includes a chance of rain throughout the day and possible scattered thunderstorms at game time.
New York has dropped three of four since Gee’s last appearance, including Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
Now, the Mets will face Oakland (33-40) for the first time since June 22-24, 2007, when they swept the Athletics in three games at Shea Stadium and improved to 4-2 in the all-time regular-season series. Oakland beat the Mets in seven games in the 1973 World Series.
The A’s, 6-4 since Bob Melvin replaced fired manager Bob Geren, are opening a six-game road trip looking for their longest winning streak since a seven-game run Sept. 14-20, 2009.
They kept the momentum going Sunday, rallying to beat San Francisco 2-1 and complete a sweep of the three-game Bay Bridge Series.
“We’re just playing with a lot of energy,” starter Trevor Cahill told the Athletics’ official website after allowing one run in eight innings to earn the victory. “We have more confidence now that even if we’re down, we’re going to come back, and if we’re ahead, we’re going to hold it. It’s definitely nice.”
Rookie second baseman Jemile Weeks is entering the A’s six-game road trip red hot, hitting .364 in 12 games since being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento.
“He’s added some swagger that I think we’ve been missing a little bit,” Oakland’s Conor Jackson said of Weeks. “He’s definitely thrown in some energy.”
Oakland could use all the energy it can muster, as it has dropped 15 of its last 18 road games.
The A’s will give the ball to Josh Outman (2-1, 3.14), who is coming off his best performance in five starts since his return from Tommy John surgery, which had sidelined him since June 2009. The left-hander tossed seven scoreless innings in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Kansas City, allowing four hits and two walks.
He has never faced the Mets.
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