New York @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 1, 2009 ) NY Mets 1, Milwaukee 0
The New York Mets can't win on the road.
The Milwaukee Brewers can't win at home.
One of those trends will change this weekend when the teams meet for a three-game series that opens tonight
The Mets are 6-14 away from home, the fewest road wins in the National League. The Brewers are 6-15 at Miller Park, the majors' worst home record.
The Mets, coming off a three-game sweep of Philadelphia at Citi Field, have won five straight.
Not only are the Mets a hot team, their pitching has been virtually unhittable. New York shut out Philadelphia in all three games, which is no small accomplishment. The Phillies, two-time defending National champions, have a lineup dotted with All-Stars but were overmatched by the Mets pitching.
This is the first time the Mets have thrown three straight shutouts since 1988. Starters R.A. Dickey, Hisanori Takahashi and Mike Pelfrey were the key to the sweep and the shutout streak, pitching 19 straight scoreless innings.
A Mets starter hasn't allowed a run since Johan Santana gave up one in the seventh inning of Sunday's win against the Yankees. Santana gets the start tonight.
While it has yet to show up as far as wins and losses, Santana has been pitching like a No. 1 starter for the Mets. He has gone at least seven innings in his last four starts, including 7 2-3 innings in beating the Yankees.
The victory snapped a stretch that saw Santana go winless over four starts, although he pitched well in three of those and ended up with no-decisions.
Santana has given up three earned runs over his last three starts, but he will have to do a better job against Brewers sluggers Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun than he has in the past. Fielder has a .385 career average (5 for 13) with a homer and an RBI against Santana. Braun is batting .538 (7 for 13) with two doubles and five RBIs against the Mets ace.
Yovani Gallardo should provide a good pitching matchup for Santana. The right-hander hasn't won since he beat Arizona on May 7, but that's more indicative of the Brewers' lousy play in general than poor pitching on his part.
Gallardo has been saddled with three straight no-decisions, even though he has pitched six innings in each start and has allowed a total of seven earned runs.
He did break form in his last start against Minnesota on Friday. Gallardo allowed four runs in the first, but then held the Twins scoreless before being pulled after the sixth.
Milwaukee defeated Houston 4-3 in 10 innings on Thursday when Rickie Weeks drew a bases-loaded walk, its first series win at home since beating Colorado two of three to open the season. Despite the win, Milwaukee has lost 12 of 16.