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Mets-Giants Preview

Jul 17, 2010 - 7:04 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

New York (48-42) at San Francisco (49-41), 9:05 p.m. EDT

Superb pitching has the San Francisco Giants surging. It also has the New York Mets baffled.

Matt Cain will try to give the Giants another stellar effort on the mound Saturday night and help San Francisco beat the sputtering Mets for the third straight game.

San Francisco (49-41) has won four straight and nine of 11 to get back into the thick of the NL West race. Outstanding pitching has been the biggest reason.

Barry Zito turned in the latest stellar effort Friday, going eight innings and combining with closer Brian Wilson on a three-hitter in a 1-0 win over the Mets (48-42). That came one night after ace Tim Lincecum opened this four-game series with a six-hitter in a 2-0 Giants victory.

"That just goes to show how good our pitching staff is," said first baseman Aubrey Huff, who is 4 for 6 in this series. "If we can just scratch across a few here and there we have a great chance of winning every night."

New York hasn't shown much punch at the plate recently, batting .222 and totaling six runs during a 1-5 stretch that's included three shutout losses.

The Mets are trying to avoid being shut out three times in a row for the first time since July 25-27, 1992.

"You can say that (Zito) pitched really well, but I still believe at some point that we have to unlock this offense a little bit," manager Jerry Manuel said. "We've got to do a better job."

Cain (6-8, 3.34 ERA) will try to take advantage of the struggling Mets to get his first win since June 13, when he capped a personal four-game winning streak by beating Oakland. The right-hander is 0-4 with a 7.45 ERA in five starts since compiling a 0.55 ERA in his previous four.

Cain was roughed up in his most recent outing July 9, giving up eight runs - four in the seventh - and 11 hits including two homers in 6 2-3 innings of an 8-1 loss at Washington.

Cain is 3-3 with a 4.26 ERA in seven starts versus the Mets. He limited them to three runs over 13 1-3 innings in two starts last year. Both games resulted in San Francisco wins, with Cain getting credit for one.

Injuries are becoming a nuisance for the Mets, who are five games behind NL East-leading Atlanta after losing the first two contests of their key 11-game road trip.

Shortstop Jose Reyes was a late scratch Thursday due to pain in his right side, and will not be available until at least Sunday.

On the mound, the club had to push Mike Pelfrey's scheduled Saturday start back to Monday at Arizona after he complained of stiffness in his neck following a flight to San Francisco.

"If we stay healthy as a team we're going to be fine," said center fielder Carlos Beltran, who has a hit in each of his first two games since returning from offseason knee surgery.

Hisanori Takahashi (7-3, 4.15) was Monday's original scheduled starter, but will instead replace Pelfrey.

The rookie left-hander's last appearance was three scoreless innings of relief during last Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Atlanta as Pelfrey took the loss.

Takahashi's only appearance against the Giants also came in relief, as he struck out two in a perfect 11th to get the win in a 5-4 victory May 8 at home.

Takahashi is 3-0 with a 3.80 ERA in four road starts.