San Diego @ New York preview
Citi Field
Last Meeting ( Jun 8, 2010 ) San Diego 1, NY Mets 2
The San Diego Padres are in for a long day. A doubleheader sweep that would get them back on top of the NL West standings would make it a lot easier to endure.
After Wednesday's second game of San Diego's three-game set at Citi Field was rained out, the Padres and New York Mets will play a day-night doubleheader Thursday, after which the Padres must fly back home for a series with the Mariners starting Friday night. The Mets have a shorter trip, as they head to Baltimore for an interleague series with the Orioles.
The Padres fell out of first place for the first time since April 19 with Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Mets and the L.A. Dodgers' 1-0 win over St. Louis. San Diego has lost three of five on this road trip.
In the first game, San Diego faces the doubly difficult task of facing the Mets at home, where they boast a league-best 23-9 record, and taking on ace left-hander Johan Santana.
Santana (4-2, 2.76 ERA) has been awfully good at home this year – he's 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA in six starts at Citi Field – but more importantly, the Mets have scored some runs behind him at home. In six road starts, Santana has seen only 11 total runs from his teammates; the Mets have scored 29 runs in his six home outings.
Santana has posted a 0.74 ERA in 36 2/3 innings over his last five starts, though has only one win to show for it and the Mets are 1-4 in those games. One of the losses was against San Diego, as Santana threw seven scoreless innings June 2 at Petco Park but took a no-decision when Adrian Gonzalez hit a grand slam in the 11th for a 5-1 Padres win.
The Padres also will stick with Wednesday's scheduled starter in the opener, turning to 22-year-old right-hander Mat Latos.
Latos (5-4, 3.26 ERA) had won four consecutive decisions before taking the loss Friday at Philadelphia, where he gave up three runs on four hits over five innings. He had an outstanding month of May, going 4-1 with a 1.54 ERA in six starts.
Latos has faced the Mets only once, allowing one run on four hits over six innings to earn the win Aug. 8 of last year.
The Padres will turn to veteran right-hander Jon Garland (6-3, 2.68 ERA) in the nightcap. Garland looks to bounce back from one of his least effective starts of the year after allowing six runs on 10 hits in seven innings in a 6-2 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday.
Before that loss, Garland had won six consecutive decisions and boasted a 1.73 ERA in his previous eight starts. Garland is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in three career starts against the Mets.
The Mets' scheduled starter, left-hander Jonathan Niese, is set to make his second start since returning from the disabled list with a hamstring injury. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey originally was slated to start today's game, but he was bumped to Friday's series opener against Baltimore.
Niese (2-2, 4.28 ERA) limited the Marlins to one run on six hits over seven innings Saturday, his first outing since May 16, when he left after two innings because of the injury. He has never faced the Padres.