San Diego @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 10, 2010 ) San Diego 0, NY Mets 3

THE STORY: Another injury to Jose Reyes has the New York Mets holding their breath. The San Diego Padres certainly won’t mind if the four-time All-Star is unavailable for their upcoming four-game series at Citi Field. The Padres seek a season-high fifth straight win on Monday against the Mets, who may be without their offensive sparkplug. This is the first of seven meetings over the next two weeks.

TV: 7:10 pm. ET, SNY, Ch4 (San Diego)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Mike Pelfrey (6-9, 4.48 ERA) vs. Padres RH Tim Stauffer (7-8, 2.96 ERA).

Pelfrey has just two wins in his last eight outings. It’s not all his fault, though. The righthander has received the least run support (2.22) of any Mets starter. He went 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA in two starts against the Padres last season. Overall, Pelfrey is 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA in five starts against San Diego. Orlando Hudson is 5-for-10 with a pair of doubles against him.

The 29-year-old Stauffer notched his career-high seventh win on Wednesday by limiting the Los Angeles Dodgers to six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He has posted a 1.97 ERA over his last 11 starts. In his lone start against the Mets, Stauffer allowed one run and five hits in five innings in a 5-1 loss in 2009.

ABOUT THE METS (56-57): Sunday’s 6-5 loss to Atlanta – the Mets’ sixth defeat in seven games – is the least of New York’s worries. That’s because the injuries keep piling up. Reyes left in the second inning with stiffness in his left hamstring – the same injury that caused him to miss more than two weeks in July. The National League’s top hitter (.337) was replaced by second baseman Justin Turner. Making matters worse, Daniel Murphy left after being spiked while covering second base and went for an MRI exam on his knee. The shuffling of the infield forced David Wright, who missed 59 games with a stress fracture in his lower back, to play shortstop for the first time in his career.

ABOUT THE PADRES (51-64): The Padres, owners of the fourth-worst offense in the majors (423 runs), have outscored opponents 38-10 during their four-game winning streak. San Diego is also dealing with a major injury. Chase Headley, who leads the team in batting average (.292) and RBIs (43), left Saturday’s game with a broken pinky. His replacement, Logan Forsythe, drove in three runs in Sunday’s 7-3 win over Pittsburgh. Cameron Maybin has hit safely in 17 of 21 games since the All-Star break, batting .319 in that span. Maybin has been successful in his last 20 stolen base attempts. San Diego leads the majors with 130 steals.

FINAL PITCH: The Padres set a franchise record by scoring 28 runs in back-to-back wins over Pittsburgh this weekend. San Diego had totaled 28 runs in the eight games leading up to that series.