MLB odds - Mets vs. Marlins

Johan Santana debuts for the New York Mets today, and the Opening Day matchup almost seems unfair.

The pitcher opposing the two-time Cy Young Award winner? Florida's Mark Hendrickson.

The same Mark Hendrickson who, a year ago in Los Angeles, split time between starting and relieving. In all, he appeared in 39 games and made 15 starts, going 4-8 with a 5.21 ERA last season in Los Angeles. For his career, he is 43-55 with a 5.01 ERA in 179 games. This will be his first Opening Day start - and undoubtedly the last.

No wonder New York is a big -220 money line favorite on WagerWeb.com (over/under: 8 runs).

All eyes will be on Santana in his National League debut today, and he's ready for that.

"It's another opening day, but at the same time, I'm very excited," said Santana, who was 93-44 in parts of eight seasons with the Minnesota Twins and wound up signing a $137.5 million, six-year contract with New York - the most money ever for a pitcher. "New uniform, a lot of expectations and I'm very happy for it. Hopefully everything will go the way everybody wants."

Santana has 983 strikeouts since 2004 - 139 more than any other pitcher in baseball over that stretch.

"He's one of the best pitchers in the game," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "Obviously we take the wraps off and we get a chance to see a great pitcher work, but the beauty of it that he's going to be there every fifth day for me. So every day is a good day."Santana started the opener for Minnesota each of the past two seasons, going 1-1: He lost to Toronto 6-3 two years ago, then beat Baltimore 7-4 last season.

The Mets open in a city, Miami, where last season ended. On the final day of the 2007 season, the Mets were tied with the Phillies for the NL East lead heading into a matchup with last-place Florida. Ace left-hander Tom Glavine gave up seven runs in one-third of an inning against the Marlins, a fitting end to New York's epic collapse that handed Philadelphia the division title.

"For us, it's officially the end of what happened last year," said Mets 3B David Wright of today's first pitch. "Although everybody has put it behind them, this kind of marks the beginning of 2008 and a new opportunity for us."

Wright, incidentally, struggled the first month of last season, hitting hit .244 with six RBIs and no homers.

Florida, meanwhile, has taken a step back from last year, and that's saying something with the team coming off a 71-91 season. But the Marlins are rebuilding again, having traded stars Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to the Tigers.

Betting trends: Over is 12-2-1 in Mets' last 15 overall. ... Over is 12-2-1 in NYM last 15 on grass. ... Over is 15-7-1 in NYM last 23 Monday games. ... Marlins are 0-9 in their last 9 Monday games. ... Over is 12-5-1 in Florida's last 18 home games. ... NYM are 10-1 in the last 11 meetings in Florida. ... Over is 7-1-1 in the last 9 meetings.

The last word: For what it's worth, the Mets have the highest Opening Day winning percentage in baseball: .630. And they were 11-7 against Florida last year, with eight of those wins coming on the road. Plus, many of the Marlins haven't seen Santana much if at all. This should be a rout.