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Giants-Mets Preview

May 7, 2010 - 3:39 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

San Francisco (16-10) at New York (15-13), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Strong pitching helped the San Francisco Giants sweep the first series of their road trip. They may need to be at least as good to be successful at Citi Field.

The Giants send Jonathan Sanchez to the mound Friday night to match up with Mike Pelfrey and a New York Mets team that has gotten outstanding pitching during a seven-game home winning streak.

San Francisco (17-10) completed a three-game sweep by beating Florida 6-3 on Thursday night. Giants starters had a 2.57 ERA during the series.

San Francisco will conclude its trip with three games at Citi Field, hoping Sanchez (2-2, 2.48) can bounce back from a subpar start. The left-hander was lifted after 4 2-3 innings Sunday, surrendering three runs and walking five in a 4-1 loss to Colorado.

Sanchez had a 1.85 ERA through his previous four outings. He is 1-1 with a 4.18 ERA in four starts against the Mets (15-13).

New York is coming off a 2-4 road trip, falling 5-4 to Cincinnati on Wednesday, but is hoping a six-home homestand will help get it back on track. The Mets are trying to win eight straight at home for the first time since an 11-game run in August 2006.

New York has a 1.83 ERA during its streak, striking out 62 in 59 innings.

Pelfrey (4-1, 2.40) earned a win during that stretch with five shutout innings against Atlanta on April 25. The right-hander has won each of his three starts at Citi Field, posting a 1.00 ERA.

Pelfrey, though, felt some stiffness in his shoulder during his outing at Philadelphia on Saturday, and he had his worst performance of the season in a 10-0 loss. He extended his scoreless innings streak to 27 before giving up six runs in the fourth inning, his last of the game.

Pelfrey has been limited in his between-starts workouts, but manager Jerry Manuel believes he will be fine. He is 1-1 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts against the Giants, and he may not have to contend with Edgar Renteria.

San Francisco's starting shortstop and No. 2 hitter missed four games due to a groin injury before rejoining the lineup Thursday, but he left for a pinch-hitter in the third inning.

"It's a possible DL," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He had five days off and re-injured it. We'll see what's the best we can do here."

If Renteria sits out, Juan Uribe will likely replace him. Renteria is batting .316 with 10 RBIs.

San Francisco, though, hasn't had much trouble getting by without him, scoring six runs or more in three of its last five games.

New York has scored 17 runs over its last two home games. The Mets have been led by David Wright, who has four homers during a nine-game hitting streak.

Wright is batting .371 in 33 games against the Giants.

Though he has been protected by Wright in the lineup, Mets cleanup hitter Jason Bay continues to struggle. Bay is hitless in 12 at-bats over his last three games and has one homer and nine RBIs this season.

"I'm sure he's been through something like this before," Manuel said. "The problem is, I've never seen it firsthand. We're very confident he'll come out of it."

Bay is 5 for 7 in his last two games versus San Francisco. The Mets won five of eight against the Giants last season.