Cincinnati @ New York preview
Citi Field
Last Meeting ( May 5, 2010 ) NY Mets 4, Cincinnati 5
Hitting seven home runs at Wrigley Field - with the wind blowing out, no less - is one thing. If the Cincinnati Reds can keep up their power surge at spacious Citi Field, that would be an even more impressive feat.
After hitting seven home runs in Sunday's 14-3 win against the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati takes its hot bats into New York for a three-game series with the Mets on Monday. Citi Field has yielded fewer home runs than any park in the National League.
The Reds have won four of five and 10 of 13 to pull 1 1/2 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals atop the NL Central, and their power-hitting prowess has been a big part of their surge to the top of the standings.
After Sunday's homer-happy performance, the Reds have hit 102 home runs - tied with Milwaukee for the most in the National League.
The Reds have six players with 10 or more homers, including center fielder Drew Stubbs, who hit three Sunday. Stubbs had been mired in an awful slump - he had hit only one homer in his last 21 games and was hitting .197 over that stretch.
Joey Votto had his seven-game hitting streak snapped when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes Sunday, but he's still 12-fo-29 with four homers and nine RBIs over his past eight games. Votto ranks second in the National League in homers (19), fifth in RBIs (57) and fifth in batting average (.312).
But now the Reds head to Citi Field, which has surrendered only 50 homers in 40 games this season. Only two parks have allowed fewer - Oakland's McAfee Coliseum (43) and Seattle's Safeco Field (44). Only 20 of those 50 homers have come at the Mets' expense.
And Cincinnati has to face 26-year-old right-hander Mike Pelfrey (10-2, 2.93 ERA) in Monday's opener. Pelfrey has allowed only six home runs in 104 1/3 innings this year - and only two of them came at Citi Field, where he's 6-0 with a 1.98 ERA in nine starts.
Pelfrey looks to bounce back from one of his worst outings of the year against the Florida Marlins on Wednesday, when he lasted only 4 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on 12 hits.
Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, who hit his 11th homer of the season Sunday, is 5-for-12 with a homer against Pelfrey.
The Mets are 28-12 at home, and they're happy to get back there after splitting a four-game series against the Washington Nationals over the weekend to finish their road trip with a 3-4 mark.
They'll try to continue their solid play at home against Reds starter Aaron Harang, who is 1-3 with a 5.63 ERA in six road starts.
Harang (6-7, 5.02 ERA) got off to a rocky start this season but has strung together three consecutive quality starts, though he's only 1-1 during that stretch.
He settled for a no-decision in Wednesday's 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies, allowing three runs on eight hits over 8 1/3 innings.
Two of the Mets' top hitters have teed off on Harang over the year. Jason Bay is 17-for-46 (.370) with five homers against him, and David Wright is 8-for-12 (.667) with a homer at his expense.