Mets vs. Dodgers prediction and odds for Monday, April 17 (Value on UNDER)

Two National League pennant hopefuls start a three game series on Monday night.

The New York Mets are on an early season west coast road trip, stopping in Los Angeles to face the Dodgers. After sweeping the lowly Oakland Athletics, the Mets will hope to keep the momnetum rolling against Dustin May and LA.

How should we bet this one? Here are the odds and our best bet:

I like the under in this one as both teams are not hitting like the respecive payrolls would indidcate it. Despite having sluggers in the lineup on both sides, each team is bottom six in batting average this season. However, both teams are elite at drawing walks, the top two teams in baseball in walk percentage at over 13%.

Control will be the key for each pitcher, and while David Peterson has struggled to limit walking batters, he has eight in 14 2/3 innings of work this season, he has been able to generate a ton of swing and misses with his off-speed pitches. Further, the Dodgers are simply lost against southpaws this season, hitting just .183 against them in 126 at bats.

I can't trust the Dodgers to string together hits against Peterson, but the same can be said for the Mets, who are also struggling at the dish to get consistent hitting. May has allowed three earned runs on seven hits in 18 1/3 innings of action this season and I expect him to continue his elite play against a Mets lineup that can't hit and may be slightly overvalued after facing the worst team in baseball in Oakland over the weekend.

To me, this looks like a rock fight on paper between two offenses that are way below expectations at the plate.