The New York Mets and San Diego Padres will battle in the 2022 NL wild-card round. The betting odds favor the Mets at Citi Field, though anything can happen in a painfully short best-of-three series.

The Mets have -194 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook to win the series and advance to the NLDS. The Padres are +164 underdogs with every game set to be played in New York.

A sweep by the Mets is considered to be the most likely scenario with +135 odds. New York has +240 odds to win the series in three games. San Diego has +310 odds to win a deciding Game 3 on the road. A Padres' sweep is the biggest long shot at +500.

New York had a better regular-season record than three division winners. The Mets are relegated to playing in the wild-card round after blowing a sizeable NL East lead to the Atlanta Braves. The Amazins still won 101 games and finished 12 games ahead of the 89-win Padres in the wild-card standings.

Both teams have spent time among the World Series betting favorites. The one-two punch of Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom at the front of the rotation makes the Mets a dangerous team against any opponent in a playoff series. The Padres went all-in at the trade deadline, acquiring a superstar outfielder, an All-Star caliber hitter and one of MLB's best relievers.

None of those trades, however, have worked out as San Diego had hoped. Juan Soto hit .236 with six home runs in 52 games for the Padres. Josh Bell went from a .301 hitter in Washington to a .192 hitter in San Diego. Josh Hader has gone 10 outings without giving up an earned run, though his overall ERA as a Padre is 7.31.

Manny Machado is an NL MVP candidate and has carried San Diego's offense. The third baseman hit .298 with a .898 OPS and 32 home runs. San Diego finished eighth in the NL in runs scored. The Padres were fifth with a 3.81 ERA.

The Mets had the NL's fourth-best offense, averaging 0.42 more runs per game than the Padres. New York's 3.57 ERA was better than that of San Diego, as well.

The trio of Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove gives San Diego a formidable wild-card rotation. It's not as good as New York's staff of Scherzer, deGrom and Chris Bassitt. Edwin Diaz and his 1.31 ERA even give the Mets the best closer in the series.

Scherzer will start for the Mets in Game 1 at home. San Diego hitters have a combined .181 average in 177 career-at bats against the three-time Cy Young winner.

Bassitt will be New York's starter in Game 2 if the team wins the series opener. New York is hoping to save deGrom to start the NLDS, though Buck Showalter will give him the ball if the Mets lose a game to the Padres.

San Diego is expected to go with Darvish in Game 1, followed by Snell and Musgrove, though nothing it set in stone.

On paper, the Mets should win the series. That doesn't necessarily mean New York will prevail. The Padres beat the Mets four times in six tries during the regular season, defeating Scherzer once and Bassitt twice.

With the division title on the line in the final weekend of the regular season, New York's top three starters all came up short in Atlanta. Darvish gave up only six hits and one run in 14 innings against the Mets during the season.

But the Mets are undoubtedly the better team, and they should take care of business in front of their home fans.

Prediction: Mets in two

Max Scherzer New York Mets
Max Scherzer #21 of the New York Mets in action against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field on May 18, 2022 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Cardinals 11-4. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)