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Phillies-Mets Preview

Aug 23, 2009 - 11:48 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Philadelphia (70-50) at New York (57-66), 1:10 p.m. EDT

If you ask the New York Mets, they've probably seen enough of the Philadelphia Phillies, but the defending World Series champions still have one thing to show their slumping rivals.

New ace Cliff Lee will try to continue his dominating run by winning his eighth straight start as he faces the Mets for the first time Monday at Citi Field, with the left-hander also hoping to pitch the Phillies to a third consecutive win to close the series.

While the banged-up Mets are already picking up the pieces and looking toward next season, Philadelphia (71-50) looks primed for a run at back-to-back titles. Lee is one of the main reasons why.

The Phillies acquired the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner before the trade deadline, and he has made NL hitters look helpless, allowing exactly one run in each of his first four starts with his new team.

Lee (4-0, 0.82 ERA) also won his last three starts with Cleveland, making him 7-0 with a 1.09 ERA since the All-Star break. None of the starts were more impressive than Wednesday's, when he pitched a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts in an 8-1 win over Arizona, with the Diamondbacks' lone run unearned.

"I don't know how special it is," said Lee, who won eight straight starts for the Indians last year Aug. 4-Sept.12.

"It's me doing what I expect to do every time I go out to the mound," he added. "I expect to put up a zero every inning."

He can add another chapter to the Mets' recent misery in the rivalry. The Phillies charged past New York to win the NL East each of the last two years, and they've beaten the Mets seven of the last eight times in head-to-head play this season, winning two of the first three in this series.

New York found a new way to lose Sunday, with the 9-7 defeat ending on Eric Bruntlett's unassisted triple play, the 15th in major league history. Former Met Pedro Martinez got the win as the Phillies maintained their 6 1/2-game lead on Atlanta in the division.

"We picked a good time," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Bruntlett's play.

With runners on first and second moving on the pitch, Bruntlett - who had already made an error in the inning - snagged Jeff Francoeur's line drive on the way to cover second, then stepped on the bag and tagged the approaching runner to complete the rare feat.

"Even with the runners going I did not expect him to be there. The only place he could catch the ball was where he was," Francoeur said. "To end the way it did was a little disheartening."

The Mets (57-67) are now 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2004, although general manager Omar Minaya will reportedly return next season. This year, New York's lineup has been decimated by injuries to several of its biggest stars.

The team has also had problems with its rotation, and it will start converted reliever Bobby Parnell for the fourth time Monday. Parnell (3-5, 4.74) was clobbered in his last outing, allowing nine runs and nine hits in three innings of Wednesday's 15-2 loss to Atlanta.

New York will be hoping for a better effort Monday after its bullpen was strained Sunday, when starter Oliver Perez couldn't get out of the first inning.