Washington @ New York preview
Citi Field
Last Meeting ( Apr 11, 2010 ) Washington 5, NY Mets 2
A pair of unlikely contenders have a date in Flushing starting on Monday.
The New York Mets and Washington Nationals begin a three-game series at Citi Field with both teams lurking just two games behind the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies.
It's the second meeting between the two in the Big Apple - the Nationals won two of three April 9-11 at Citi Field, but New York has won nine of its last 10 at home.
And this seems like a different Mets team than the Nationals bettered a month ago. New York has won 14 of its last 20 to keep itself in the thick of things in the NL East after falling five games back by mid-April.
That stretch included an eight-game winning streak that coincided with the call up of rookie first baseman Ike Davis, who is hitting .316 in 18 games after a 2-for-3 performance Sunday against the San Francisco Giants.
The Nationals are an equally surprising contender, if not more surprising. With Sunday's 3-2 win against the Florida Marlins, Washington has won four of its last six games and six of its first 10 series this season. With a win on Monday, the Nationals would get to four games over .500 for the first time since they were 77-73 on Sept. 19, 2005.
The Mets hope veteran right-hander John Maine can slow down the Nationals by carrying over the momentum from his last two starts.
Maine got off to a terrible start, watching his ERA inflate to 10.38 through is first three starts, but he has put together two solid outings in a row. He picked up his first win of the year April 28 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing two earned runs in six innings, and he was even better Tuesday at Cincinnati, holding the Reds to one earned run on four hits over six innings.
In 13 starts against the Nationals, Maine is 8-3 with a 4.20 ERA. He has won five of his last six decisions against them. No Washington player with more than six at-bats against Maine is hitting over .300 off him, and slugging third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is 6-for-34 lifetime against Maine.
His counterpart doesn't have much of a track record against the Mets - or anyone else, for that matter.
Rookie Luis Atilano will make the fourth start of his career for Washington. After winning his first two major-league starts, the 25-year-old right-hander was dinged for six runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves. He walked five in that one and didn't factor in the decision in the Nationals' 7-6 loss.
That line told a different story than his first two outings, when we went six innings each time and gave up a total of three runs on 11 hits.
Zimmerman and veteran catcher Ivan Rodriguez have carried Washington's offense so far this year, but Rodriguez has cooled off the past two games. After keeping his average over .400 for most of the season, he is 0 for his last 9 at-bats, dropping his average to .365.