New York @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 16, 2011 ) NY Mets 1, San Diego 6

THE STORY: Most teams love to visit scenic San Diego, especially during the summer months. The New York Mets? Not so much. The Mets will attempt to win just their second series in San Diego since 2000 when the teams conclude their three-game series at Petco Park on Wednesday. The Padres evened the series on Tuesday with a 6-1 victory.

TV: 6:35 p.m. ET, SNY

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Dillon Gee (10-4, 4.07 ERA) at Padres RH Mat Latos (6-11, 3.80 ERA)

Gee is making his first career start against San Diego. He gave up five runs over five innings in a loss to Atlanta last Sunday. Gee opened the season 7-0 with a 2.86 ERA, but he is 3-4 with a 5.61 ERA in his past seven starts. Latos, who is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against the Mets, is 1-2 with a 2.89 ERA in his last seven starts. The Padres are 1-5 in Latos’ last six starts against teams from the National League East.

ABOUT THE METS (59-63): Now that Jason Isringhausen has recorded his 300th save, the Mets appear ready to give Bobby Parnell every opportunity to be their next closer. However, there’s some question about Parnell’s job readiness. While his strikeout rate of 11.1 per nine innings makes him a worthy candidate, Parnell has hardly been unhittable this season. In fact, he’s given up 10.4 hits per nine innings and carries a 4.31 ERA. Like many good closers, though, he possesses a blazing fastball and generates plenty of ground-ball outs. The jury’s out on his long-term prospects, but the Mets are eager to see if next year’s closer is already on the roster. The saga of outfielder Fernando Martinez continued Tuesday when he landed on the disabled list for Triple-A Buffalo with a wrist injury. It wasn’t long ago that Martinez was considered the Mets’ top prospect, but countless injuries have prevented him from ever living up to expectations.

ABOUT THE PADRES (55-69): It took awhile, but Cameron Maybin is finally showing why scouts were raving about him just four years ago. With his eighth home run Tuesday, Maybin is two short of becoming the fourth Padre in franchise history with at least 10 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season. He has been successful on 91 percent (31-for-34) of his stolen base attempts. The Florida Marlins essentially gave up on Maybin last year when they sent him to San Diego in exchange for relievers Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica, but the Padres were happy to give the five-tool player a fresh start. Meanwhile, the Marlins’ ongoing search for an everyday center fielder led them to sign veteran Mike Cameron, who’s batting .212 after Tuesday’s action. Nick Hundley doesn’t have Maybin’s speed, but on Tuesday he became the first Padres catcher to triple twice in a game since Fred Kendall on August 22, 1973.

FINAL PITCH: San Diego improved to 25-25 since June 21 with Tuesday’s victory.