MLB picks: Mets vs. Blue Jays, Angels vs. Rockies (Sept. 11)

Jacob deGrom leads the New York Mets into Buffalo to face the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, while the Los Angeles Angels head to Colorado for a rare series with the Rockies. Here are our best bets for each contest.

New York Mets (20-24) at Toronto Blue Jays (24-19), 6:37 p.m. ET

Unlike his past two NL Cy Young seasons, the Mets have been winning with Jacob deGrom on the mound in 2020. They’re 6-2 overall behind their ace, with four of those victories counting for run line as well. New York should add to that success when they visit the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field on Friday night.

deGrom has once again been pitching at a Cy Young-winning level this year. He leads the NL in ERA (1.69) and strikeouts per nine innings (13.13) and is second in WHIP (0.87). deGrom should keep the Blue Jays’ offense at bay for as long as he’s allowed to be on the mound.

Chase Anderson (0-0, 4.94 ERA) will be deGrom’s opposite number on Friday. He hasn’t factored into a decision in six appearances this year, mainly because he doesn’t last long enough to qualify. Anderson has reached five innings only twice in 2020. He’s fresh off his worst outing of the year, as he surrendered six runs to the Red Sox over four frames last Saturday.

Look for some combination of Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, and Pete Alonso to drive the Mets offense here – they’ve combined to go 41-for-105 (.390) this month with 12 home runs.

MLB pick: Mets runline

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Los Angeles Angels (18-27) at Colorado Rockies (20-23), 8:40 p.m. ET

The series opener between the Angels and Rockies promises to be another high-scoring affair at Coors Field.

Griffin Canning (0-3, 4.54 ERA) starts for the visiting Angels, and he’s given up no fewer than three earned runs in five of his first eight outings of the campaign. Being a flyball pitcher (74-44 flyball/groundball ratio in 2020) is bound to hurt Canning in Colorado. There’s pop throughout the Rockies lineup, even from second baseman Garrett Hampson, who has a 1.000 OPS this month. Once Canning is sent packing, the Rockies can take advantage of L.A.’s shaky bullpen that’s 26th by ERA in September (7.42).

German Marquez (2-5, 4.58 ERA) counters for Colorado, and he much prefers pitching on the road, at least over the last season and a half. Since 2019, Marquez has a 3.43 ERA in away games, but a 6.45 ERA at Coors Field.

Unfortunately for the Venezuela native, Mike Trout comes into this series red-hot, holding a 1.459 OPS for the month. Justin Upton is also beginning to figure things out at the dish (1.206 OPS in September). They should club Marquez as well as the Rockies’ bottom-ranked bullpen (9.68 ERA) on the month.

MLB pick: Over