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Phillies-Mets Preview

Jun 8, 2009 - 7:51 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Philadelphia (33-22) at New York (30-25), 7:10 p.m. EDT

The Philadelphia Phillies have conquered the New York Mets in the NL East each of the last two years, and a strong surge in recent weeks has given the defending World Series champions another lead atop the division.

But they've still never beaten the Mets' prized ace.

Johan Santana will be on the mound to start the rivals' three-game series at Citi Field on Tuesday night, and the left-hander will be looking to duplicate his dominance of the Phillies there last month.

A pair of late stumbles have cost the Mets the last two division titles, and the Phillies have stepped up to take advantage. But Santana (7-3, 2.00 ERA) has hardly been to blame, especially against Philadelphia.

The southpaw is 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA in six starts against the Phillies since joining New York. He held them to two hits and struck out 10 in seven innings of a 1-0 win May 6.

"He's really, really special," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said that night. "This is the most impressive I've seen him."

Santana has been especially sharp against the top of the Phillies' lineup. Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Chase Utley have combined to go 6 for 55 (.109) against the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner.

Nine of Santana's last 10 outings have been quality starts, although he lost his last outing after giving up three runs in six innings of a 3-1 defeat at Pittsburgh last Tuesday.

He'll now face a Philadelphia team that is among the hottest in baseball - especially on the road. The Phillies have won 17 of 23 overall and 13 of 17 on the road since getting swept in a two-game set in Queens from May 6-7.

Their 21-8 road record is the best in the majors, one year after their 44-37 mark away from home was the best in the NL.

If not for two blown saves by Brad Lidge over the weekend in Los Angeles, the Phillies (33-22) could have a 10-game winning streak coming into this series. Instead, they settled for a split of the four-game series with the Dodgers.

"We could have swept, but we got ourselves in a position where we needed a win to get a split and that's what we did," first baseman Ryan Howard said. "There's no sense in looking at what could have been."

Howard, Victorino and Carlos Ruiz all homered in a 7-2 win Sunday night, maintaining the team's three-game division lead on the second-place Mets (30-25).

Left-hander J.A. Happ has been a bigger part of Philadelphia's success lately, going 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts since joining the rotation. He threw seven shutout innings in a 5-1 win over San Diego on Wednesday and is holding opponents to a .181 batting average this year.

Happ (4-0, 2.48) has thrown 5 2-3 shutout innings in relief against the Mets this year.

Both teams had Monday off, but New York will try to carry some momentum from a 7-0 win at Washington on Sunday.

The Mets had lost four of five, including a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh that prompted Carlos Beltran to say he was "embarrassed." But they scored five runs in the first inning Sunday against the Nationals.

"That's what we need to do is jump on teams early - which we've done all year - but also add one or two here and there when we have the opportunity," third baseman David Wright said.