The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in the opener of a four-game set at Citi Field, but the Cardinals have responded with back-to-back blowout victories. They're one of the strongest road-teams in baseball, and I like the visitors to deny the Mets a split of this four-game set in the series finale this afternoon.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Cardinals will hand the ball to Jaime Garcia who'll make his first start of the year. He's had the last couple of seasons squandered by injuries but has been cleared after two rehab starts in the minors this month. He'll be looking to stay dominant against the Mets, a team he's 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA in four career starts against, and while he might not be able to go deep, St. Louis can still rely on one of the best bullpens in the major leagues. The Mets will counter with Jacob deGrom (4-4 , 3.21 ERA) who has had a great start to his second season in the majors. This will be his first start on the year against the Cardinals though, and keep in mind that they massacred him over 4 1/3 innings last year when he surrendered six runs on 12 hits.

2. Road Warriors - St. Louis is 13-6 away from home on the season and it is 5-1 in its last six when visiting a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.

3. X-Factor - Jhonny Peralta and Matt Adams are both 2-for-3 against deGrom and a combined 8-for-22 so far in this series.

Selection: This is a play on the St. Louis Cardinals (5*)