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Mets-Phillies Preview

May 1, 2010 - 11:36 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

New York (14-9) at Philadelphia (12-10), 8:05 p.m. EDT

The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies each received a spectacular performance from a starting pitcher to split the first two games of their weekend series.

New York hopes it has the right guy on the mound to try to continue that trend.

The Mets will start Johan Santana on Sunday night when they try to bounce back in the finale of the three-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Billed as an early showdown of NL East contenders, this series has featured two blowouts. New York (14-10) won its eighth straight Friday with a 9-1 victory behind seven strong innings from Jonathon Niese before Roy Halladay ended the Mets' run with a three-hitter in a 10-0 victory for the Phillies (13-10) on Saturday.

Both games featured poor outings from the losing starters. Philadelphia's Kyle Kendrick lasted five innings and yielded four runs Friday, and New York's Mike Pelfrey allowed six runs over four innings Saturday.

The Mets appear to have the advantage Sunday with Santana (3-1, 2.08 ERA) facing Jamie Moyer (2-2, 5.25).

Santana has yielded one run over his last 21 1-3 innings, and has won his last two outings. He yielded four hits over six innings Tuesday in a 4-0 home win over the Dodgers.

"Everybody feels very motivated, and it's good to see," Santana said.

The left-hander was 4-0 with a 3.04 ERA in seven career starts against the Phillies with the Mets before losing to Philadelphia in his last outing July 5, allowing two runs over seven innings in a 2-0 loss. He's pitched at least seven innings in seven of those eight starts.

Santana has done a good job keeping the Phillies' Chase Utley and Jayson Werth in check. Utley is 5 for 26, and Werth 6 for 24 with seven strikeouts.

Those two hitters helped key a 13-hit attack Saturday as Philadelphia ended a three-game home skid. Utley had a season-high three hits and scored three runs while Werth had two hits with three runs and two RBIs and has reached base safely in all 23 games.

That was more than enough for Halladay, who slowed down a Mets lineup that produced 26 runs over the previous three games.

The 47-year-old Moyer has pitched six innings in each of his first four starts in 2010, allowing four runs Tuesday in a 6-2 loss at San Francisco. The left-hander is 0-4 with a 7.07 ERA in his last five home starts, and went 1-1 with a 6.91 ERA in five outings against New York last season.

Mets third baseman David Wright is 20 for 47 with three homers in his career against Moyer. Wright is 8 for 17 during a modest five-game hitting streak.

His counterpart for the Phillies, Placido Polanco, is mired in a 3-for-34 slump and hitless in nine at-bats in this series. Polanco, however, has enjoyed success against Santana, going 10 for 26 in his career.