New York @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 8, 2011 ) NY Mets 5, San Francisco 2

THE STORY: The New York Mets are doing their best without superstar Jose Reyes. Scott Hairston belted a pinch-hit homer against All-Star closer Brian Wilson to lead off the ninth inning as New York posted its fifth win in six outings with a 5-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday. The victory assured the Mets of taking a winning record into the All-Star break. New York will look to keep rolling when Chris Capuano takes the mound Saturday. Tim Lincecum provides the opposition for National League West-leading San Francisco.

TV: 9:05 p.m ET, SNY (New York), CSBA (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets LH Chris Capuano (8-7, 4.19 ERA) vs. Giants RH Tim Lincecum (6-7, 3.14 ERA). Capuano has won three straight and five of his last six to offset a sluggish start to the season. In his last outing, the 32-year-old southpaw yielded just two runs on six hits in six innings in a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. Capuano has struggled against the Giants, posting a 1-4 career mark with a 5.31 ERA. He suffered the loss when the teams met in Queens on May 4, permitting two runs and eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. Lincecum has been pitching well, but a lack of run support is wreaking havoc with his record. The Giants have scored just 10 runs during Lincecum's last five starts. As a result, the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner is 1-3 during that stretch. Lincecum improved to 2-1 against the Mets after striking out 12 over seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory on May 4.

ABOUT THE GIANTS (50-40): Nate Schierholtz belted his third homer in as many days with a solo shot into McCovey Cove in the sixth inning Friday. Only two balls have splashed down this season and 57 all-time by a Giants player -- 35 from all-time home run leader Barry Bonds. Pablo Sandoval extended his career-best hitting streak to 19 games with a leadoff double in the fourth. He came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Schierholtz. Sandoval singled in his lone career at-bat against Capuano.

ABOUT THE METS (46-43): One day after watching his 11-game hitting streak come to an end, Carlos Beltran went 3-for-5 with an RBI single Friday. The veteran has fared well against Lincecum, going 6-for-13 with one homer and four RBIs. Daniel Murphy, who went 3-for-4 on Friday, has 17 hits in his last 11 contests. Angel Pagan belted a two-run homer, and Nick Evans collected his first hit in 18 official at-bats this season with an RBI single in the ninth inning. Ruben Tejada, who manned shortstop Friday with Reyes on the disabled list, went 1-for-3.

FINAL PITCH: San Francisco second baseman Bill Hall was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday. Hall suffered a lacerated left leg after being spiked by San Diego's Jason Bartlett on an attempted steal Thursday. The Giants recalled shortstop Mike Fontenot to take Hall's spot.