Atlanta Braves at New York Mets 8/5/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The top two teams in the NL East Division will square off on Friday night, when the Atlanta Braves face the New York Mets from Citi Field. The Braves (63-43) have dropped consecutive games and remain atop the NL Wild Card standings. Last night, Atlanta OF Ronald Acuna hit a two-run blast and SP Kyle Wright surrendered a career-high four round-trippers during a 6-4 road loss against New York.

Twenty-four year old righty Ian Anderson (9-6 4.99 ERA) put together a solid month of June. The Braves won four of Anderson’s five starts last month and he allowed 11 runs total over that stretch.

The New York Mets have won 32 of their first 49 home games and own a 4.5 game lead over Atlanta for first place. On Thursday, OF Tyler Naquin hit two home runs in his home debut in support of winning pitcher Carlos Carrasco (12-4). All-Star 1B Pete Alonso and DH Daniel Vogelbach also went deep for the Mets, who improved to 67-38 on the season.

Twenty-nine year old righty Taijuan Walker (9-2 2.79 ERA) is quietly having a solid season for the Mets. Last time out, Walker gave up three runs in five plus innings during a 9-3 road triumph against Miami.