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Astros visit the big apple, the New York Mets hold a thin lead in the National League East but while the Philadelphia Philles and Florida Marlins are fading away, the Mets are staying consistent. If you recall, that's something that they failed to do last year. Currently the oddsmakers at BetOnline have the New York Mets as the -1.5 - 120 favorites heading into this MLB matchup.

On Saturday, they will get a visit from the Houston Astros, who despite an eight-game winning streak are still just buzzing around .500.

They will send Brandon Backe to the hill but he's been downright terrible of late. The Astros are 3-6 in his last nine outings but Backe has twice allowed 11 earned runs in his last three starts.

Here are his cumulative numbers from his last three starts:

16 IP, 23 ER, 23 H, 14 BB, 5 HR.

That gives him a ridiculous ERA of 12.94 and a WHIP of 2.31. Giving five home runs in that span, which boils down to roughly one every three innings, is also outrageous. Backe is 3-7 on the road with a 5.65 ERA and opposing hitters are batting .296 against him.

He'll pitch against John Maine, who has arguably become the Mets second-best pitcher this season.

Even though the Mets are only 1-2 in his last three starts, he's allowed only one earned run in his last 14.1 innings pitched. As a matter of fact, Maine has allowed more than three earned runs just once in his last 10 starts.

Maine has pitched much better at home than he does on the road. At home he's 5-1 with a 3.99 ERA and on the road he's 5-6 with a 3.69 ERA.

For more props and odds, visit BetOnline.com. BetOnline.com  is a top rated online sportsbook providing reliable  sports betting to millions of online betting customers. BetOnline.com also offers MLB football betting, live MLB betting lines,  props and futures.

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