World Series Betting – KC Royals at NY Mets (Game 3)

Kansas City Royals (+120) at New York Mets (-130)

After getting pummeled 7-1 on Wednesday night, the New York Mets retreat back to Citi Field down two games to none, and the numbers say they’re in tough to claim win the World Series.

Fangraphs has dropped the Mets’ chances to just 18.1-percent. If they’re to salvage any hopes, they’ll need young pitcher Noah Syndergaard (1-0, 2.77 ERA) to step up in a big spot against Yordano Ventura (0-0, 5.09 ERA) and the Kansas City Royals tonight (8:07 PM Eastern).

Only 11 teams have clawed back from being down 2-0 in a World Series, seven after dropping the first two on the road. If there is a silver-lining, the last Mets championship team in 86 was one of these chosen chosen few. But in order to start a comeback, Syndergaard, the long-haired hurler nicknamed “Thor,” will need to bring the thunder against a Royals order that has had their way with New York pitchers.

From Alcides Escobar’s leadoff, inside-the-park home run in Game 1, things have just not gone how New York expected. Matt Harvey blew a two run lead, Jeurys Familia blew a save, and Jacob deGrom got shelled for four runs over five innings. Now the onus falls on the 23-year-old Syndergaard to stop the bleeding. While he has a fastball that clocks out at over 100 mph, Kansas City has proven they can hit just about anything. His command will need to be on point if he wants to go deep in this affair.

On the other side, Ventura has been unspectacular this postseason, allowing three earned runs in three of his four starts, and never lasting a full six innings. New York’s offense was held down by Johnny Cueto in Game 2, but they’ll have an opportunity to get runs off the young Ventura.

If games were decided by starting pitching duels, this would seem sewed up; but, as games wear on, Kansas City keeps coming, ranking top-three in runs scored over the final three innings, and boasting arguably the best late-relief cohort in the league (between Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson, and Wade Davis).

While this should be another tight one, the Mets were 49-32 at home during the season and are 3-1 during the postseason. They should at least be able to tease their fans with hope by pulling out a win tonight.

Pick: Mets (-130).

(Photo credit: Keith Allison – Flickr [https://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/20695455506].)