I realize that it’s difficult to drum up any interest in Pittsburgh, a team that has lost four in a row as well as eight of its last ten games. But wait until you hear about the success they’ve had in the past against Mets starter Taijuan Walker!

In three career starts vs. the Pirates, Walker is winless and has a 7.94 ERA.

Now I obviously cannot make a play solely based on that small sample size. But here’s the thing. Walker is a pitcher that you’d want to bet against anyway. His ERA post-All Star Break is 6.10. This seems to be a disturbing trend for him as he carried a 7.10 ERA in the second half of last season.

Walker has made it through six innings just once in his last five starts. This is another problem for the Mets because their bullpen has not been good for the last month or so.

The Pirates are going with Mitch Keller as their starter for Tuesday. Keller has allowed three earned runs or less in 13 of his 16 starts this year and has a 3.19 ERA over the previous nine. So he can keep his team in this one. Before yesterday’s game got rained out, the Mets had suffered back to back 7-1 losses - at home - to the Nationals. Grab the +1.5 in this one. The Mets are overpriced. 9*