Pittsburgh at New York

The Mets have awakened from mediocre play, and have now won 8-of-11, and are poised to sweep the Pirates. Oliver Perez has not allowed more than seven hits in any start since April, and his recent ERA is even better than his 3 ERA on the season, as he has pitched to an ERA close to two in his last three starts. The Pirates are just not a competitive team at all on the road against the good teams. They finished 4-22 on the road last season and lost 57 overall. They are poised to challenge those numbers again this year. The Pirates only chance on the road has been when Tom Gorzelanny toes the rubber. When Pittsburgh has played a .500 or better team on the road this season, they are 0-16 in their losses to the +1.5 runline, unless Gorzelanny was the starter. They have been out-scored 122-44! That is nearly five runs a game! The Pirates aren't playing well period, right now, as they have dropped 10 of 11. Talk about value? The Mets are an underdog to the -1.5 runline, against a team that has not covered this line in a loss against a .500+ team the entire season. The Pirates are just 5-16 in Maholm's road starts over the last two seasons, and the Pirates have registered just one win against a .500+ team in two years of his road starts. Mets get the sweep.