The New York Mets, like the team they faced in last year’s World Series, the Kansas City Royals, thought they had an inside track to getting to the post-season again, but things went a little wrong along the way. They have found the same problem they did in the first half of last season – a lack of offense – and that has haunted them. On Tuesday night they will take the field against one of the National League’s bottom feeders, the Arizona Diamondbacks, in the precarious position of trying to avoid a fifth straight loss to this cellar-dweller. Game time is 9:40 PM ET at Phoenix’s Chase Field, and BetAnySports customers will have the opportunity to place wagers even after the first pitch is thrown, as they follow the action and challenge the baseball betting odds through he phenomenon known as Live Betting Ultra.

The Mets (59-59) should be contenders with the pitching they have, even after losing Matt Harvey for the season with an injury. After all, they still have Jason DeGrom and Steven Matz and Bartolo Colon (who made it to the All-Star Game) as well as tonight’s starter, Noah Syndergaard. They just haven’t scored runs on a consistent enough basis. They have really gone flat at bat, hitting .237 as a team and scoring 3.7 runs per game. And though they picked up power-hitting Jay Bruce in a trade, Yoenis Cespedes, a critical part of their offense, is out with a quad injury.

The problem for the D-Backs (49-69) is their pitching. The staff ERA is 5.11, and that has spoiled some pretty decent offense, as they have scored 4.6 runs per game at home but sport only a 20-39 record at Chase Field. This team, with Tony LaRussa as head of baseball operations, spread some money around in the off-season, signing, among others, pitcher Zack Greinke, but that hasn’t kept them out of last place.

In the baseball betting odds posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Mets are favored on the road:

New York Mets (Syndergaard – R) -160

Arizona Diamondbacks (Shipley – R) +150

Over 8.5 Runs -120

Under 8.5 Runs +100

Syndergaard had all kinds of problems with the D-Backs last time out because he is so easy to steal on. Credit Arizona manager Chip Hale with being able to expose that. They stole four bases against him. But actually the D-Backs exploited the entire Mets’ staff, as they stole 13 bases in the series. That is the most anyone has ever swiped against the franchise in a three-game series. On the season, Syndergaard has allowed 36 of 40 runners to steal, so don’t think Arizona isn’t going to try its hand again at it.

Braden Shipley (2-1. 2.96 ERA), the 24-year-old right-hander, gets the start for Arizona, and he is coming off a strong effort in which he threw seven scoreless innings at the Mets, opposing Syndergaard, on August 11. Actually he has had three very good outings in a row, and the D-Backs are obviously very high on this young man, as he was their first-round pick in the amateur draft in 2013.

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