Sure, it was just the Chisox. But a sweep is a sweep, and the Mets are hardly about to throw back any of those weekend wins over the Pale Hose. Even considering the opposition, Mets pitching was superb, allowing just four runs across the weekend as NY pulls within 2 games of the Braves for the last NL wild card spot. The Mets hope Luis Severino matches his last start at Citi Field when firing a complete-game, 4-hit shutout at the Marlins on August 17. The Bosox are more formidable, and Brayan Bello hasn't been pitching badly in recent outings, but the Sox are also stumbling when they should be surging, dropping 6 of 9 to damage AL wild card hopes. Play Mets on ML

Luis Severino gets a home start today against the Boston Red Sox, after four of his last five starts on the road. That’s a big angle today to help Severino adjust to being so poor on the season against American League opponents. Look for Severino to work out of some jams, or for the bats to pick him up at the plate. Take the Mets.

Since the beginning of July, New York's Luis Severino has topped six innings twice. In his past seven outings, Severino has topped five once, and that was a complete game vs. the Marlins. The Red Sox are actually a much better team on the road so they could knock Severino around as Luis has had some issues of late other than that terrific game vs. Miami. The SL model has him at 5.5 innings.

The focus in these First Fives is on the pitchers and I like what I'm seeing from Brayan Bello. He's been the more consistent pitcher lately (versus Luis Severino) and I'm expecting the Red Sox bats to come back alive. The Red Sox are the tougher lineup and they have the pitcher in better form so we'll take the value on this number.