New York Mets at San Francisco Giants 8/16/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

In Monday night MLB action, the New York Mets will visit Oracle Park to battle the San Francisco Giants. The Mets (59-58) are 12 games below .500 on the road and have fallen 2.5 games behind NL East Division leading Atlanta. Last night, New York SP Carlos Carrasco (0-1) was rocked for six runs and recorded just six outs during a 14-4 home loss versus Los Angeles.

Forty-one year old southpaw Rich Hill (6-4 4.05 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets in this matchup. New York has won three of Hill’s first four starts and he has allowed 11 runs (10 ER) in 18 innings of work.

The San Francisco Giants are a major league best 40-18 at home and hold a 4.5 game lead over Los Angeles for first place in the NL West Division. On Sunday, 2B Tommy La Stella collected three hits and drove in a pair of runs during a 5-2 home victory versus Colorado. SP Alex Wood (10-3) allowed two runs in six plus innings to earn the win for the Giants, who improved to 76-42 on the season.

The Giants will counter with All-Star righty Kevin Gausman (11-5 2.29 ERA) in the series opener. Through 137 plus innings, Gausman has struck out 162 batters and ranks sixth in the National League with a 0.97 WHIP.