New York @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 20, 2010 ) NY Mets 2, Arizona 3
The Arizona Diamondbacks are 19 games out of first place in the National League West, but they're also in position to win their third consecutive game for only the second time this season.
It's a small victory, for sure, but the swooning New York Mets would settle for any kind of victory they could get right now.
Arizona shoots for its first three-game sweep of the season tonight at Chase Field, while the Mets look to reverse the slide that has pushed them 6 1/2 games behind Atlanta in what once was a tight NL East race.
The Mets have lost five of their first six games since the All-Star break and eight of 10 overall. They turn to 23-year-old left-hander Jonathon Niese to help them stop the slide tonight.
Niese (6-4, 3.44 ERA) has posted seven quality starts in eight outings since June 5, when he returned from a stint on the disabled list. Nonetheless, he has lost his last two starts, in large part because the Mets have scored a total of one run in those two games.
Niese found himself on the wrong end of a 1-0 shutout Friday in San Francisco, losing despite allowing only one run over seven innings.
The Mets have plenty of reason to worry about whether that trend will continue tonight. New York has scored a total of 21 runs in its past 11 games and hasn't topped four runs during that span.
Arizona rookie Barry Enright shut them down for eight innings Tuesday, at one point retiring 14 consecutive batters. The Diamondbacks hope 29-year-old right-hander Dan Haren (7-8, 4.60 ERA) can take advantage of the Mets' offensive woes to turn around what has thus far been one of the worst seasons of his eight-year career.
The Diamondbacks haven't won with Haren on the mound since June 12 against St. Louis, a span of six starts in which he is 0-4 with a 4.58 ERA.
The Padres hit Haren for six runs in five innings Friday in San Diego, hitting two home runs off him to bring his season total to 21 homers allowed.
Despite their lack of run production, hitting the ball out of the park hasn't been a problem for the Mets. Josh Thole and Angel Pagan hit solo homers Tuesday to account for both of New York's runs in a 3-2 loss, giving the Mets five homers in their last four games.
The Diamondbacks have been slugging homers on a regular basis too. Justin Upton's solo shot in the third inning Tuesday gave them homers in four consecutive games, and Upton has provided two of them. The 22-year-old outfielder is hitting .448 during a seven-game hitting streak.