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July, 17 2008 7:10pm EST
MONEYLINE: New York Mets -147
WIN for +1.36 unit(s)

New York Mets at Cincinnati Reds

METS – The Mets have won nine straight games. The All Star Break is not going to be enough of a lapse to suddenly stop their momentum. This is especially true with Johan Santana on the mound to begin the ‘second half’ of the season for New York. The Mets southpaw has pitched much better than his 8-7 record would lead you to believe. He’s got a 2.84 ERA this season and, as usual, Santana has been very tough to hit. In his career, Santana has only allowed opponents to hit .223 against him. Santana was hit hard by Cincinnati earlier this season but, as he’s so adept at doing, the southpaw was able to pitch out of jams and he allowed just three earned runs in six innings of work to get the victory against the Reds. Santana is in very strong current form as evidenced by some amazing numbers in his last six starts. Over those six outings, the Mets have lost five of the games but it certainly hasn’t been the fault of Santana. The southpaw has allowed just 31 hits in 39 innings while also striking out 38. He certainly is capable of dominating the Reds. While Cincinnati was playing some better baseball prior to the break, the Reds do not match up well with Santana. Many of their bigger bats are left-handed sticks and they certainly are not excited about facing one of the toughest southpaws in the game. While the Reds hitters are likely to struggle with Santana, the Mets hitters should enjoy facing a fading Johnny Cueto. The Reds right-hander enjoyed some very impressive outings early this season but he has indeed been on a fade more recently. In April, Cueto only got hit at a .242 clip but once the “book was out” on the rookie hurler he got hit at a .303 clip in May. Currently, Cueto is on a 2-4 skid in his last six starts and he had more walks than strikeouts in three of those six starts. Also, Cueto got absolutely rocked in his only start against the Mets which came in May. The Reds righty is only 22 years old and he’s getting hit at a .286 clip under the lights. A night start against one of the hottest teams in the league is not going to help matters for Cueto! The Mets are hitting .321 during their nine game winning streak and they’ve won the games by an average score of 6 to 2. That is pure domination and with this pitching match-up Thursday, more domination is on the way. The Mets should roll here in *Big Easy* fashion!