San Diego @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 6, 2010 ) San Diego 6, Philadelphia 5
The magic the New York Mets seem to muster when they play at Citi Field hasn't run out yet.
The Mets pulled off another late comeback Tuesday, rallying for a 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres on solo homers by Jose Reyes and Ike Davis to boost their major league-best home record to 23-9.
They'll try to keep it going in the middle game of the three-game set tonight, and they'll have ace Johan Santana on the mound.
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 important, the Mets have scored some runs behind him at home. In six road starts, Santana has seen only 11 total runs from his teammates, but the Mets have scored 29 runs in his six home outings.
Unfortunately for Santana, four of his last five starts have been away from home, so he doesn't have much to show for the stellar stretch he has put together. Santana has posted a 0.74 ERA in 36 2/3 innings over his last five starts, but he has just one win in that stretch and the Mets are 1-4 in those games.
One of those losses was to the Padres. Santana shut out San Diego for seven innings Wednesday at Petco Park, allowing five hits and five walks, but Adrian Gonzalez's grand slam in the 11th sent the Mets to a tough defeat.
The Mets earned a slight measure of revenge Tuesday, as Davis' homer to lead off the 11th lifted New York to a walk-off win. Davis also hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the Mets' 4-2 win at San Diego on June 1.
Reyes broke out of a 1-for-19 slump with two hits Tuesday, including a game-tying home run in the seventh inning.
The Mets have won four in a row, but now they face the difficult task of keeping it going against 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 on Aug. 8, 2009.
The Padres' offense has struggled since an 18-run outburst against the Mets on Memorial Day. San Diego has scored 19 runs in the seven games since, settling for two or fewer in four of them.
Gonzalez has kept up his hot hitting during that stretch, though. He had an RBI double Tuesday and is hitting .424 with four homers and 11 RBIs over the past eight games. Gonzalez is 4-for-13 lifetime against Santana, and teammate Chase Headley is 3-for-7 with a homer against the two-time Cy Young Award winner.