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Jul 23, 2010 - 6:57 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

New York (49-46) at Los Angeles (50-45), 10:10 p.m. EDT

Johan Santana is accustomed to seeing the New York Mets struggle at the plate. Their current slump, which has them fading fast in the NL East race, is particularly alarming.

Santana will try to end another New York losing streak as the punchless Mets face the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

The Mets (49-47) have dropped four straight and seven of eight on their season-high 11-game road trip. Their offense has been dreadful on the swing, as they've totaled 15 runs, are batting .189 and have been shut out three times including a 2-0 defeat Thursday in the opener of this four-game set.

"We knew coming in that this was going to be a big road trip," said right fielder Jeff Francoeur, who had two of the Mets' five hits Thursday. "I mean, we weren't expecting to go 8-3, but at the same time, we weren't expecting to be 1-7 with three games left. We're not helping our pitchers out."

The Mets' slump has dropped them 7 1/2 games behind East-leading Atlanta.

"We've got to eventually turn this thing around," said manager Jerry Manuel, whom general manager Omar Minaya gave a vote of confidence Thursday. "Somebody's got to find a way to get hot and carry us for a minute."

Santana (7-5, 2.87 ERA) is doing his part.

The left-hander put the Mets in position to record their only win so far on this trip, allowing one run in eight innings of Sunday's 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Giants.

Each of Santana's last three starts have been victories for New York, with the last two halting three-game slides. He's 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA in that stretch.

Santana has been phenomenal in three career starts versus the Dodgers, allowing one run and 12 hits over 20 2-3 innings with 21 strikeouts while winning all three.

Santana may not get much run support with the Mets slated to face the resurgent Vicente Padilla (4-2, 3.65), who has limited opponents to three hits in 14 scoreless innings over his last two starts, and is 3-1 with a 1.30 ERA in his last five.

The right-hander has won six of his last eight outings against the Mets, though he hasn't faced them since he pitched for Philadelphia in 2005.

Padilla will try to give Los Angeles its third straight dominant performance from a starting pitcher. Hiroki Kuroda allowed five hits in eight innings Thursday after Chad Billingsley threw a five-hitter in a 2-0 win over San Francisco the previous night.

The Dodgers (51-45) have been hitting only slightly better than New York recently, batting .236 during a 2-6 stretch. They managed only four hits Thursday, but Matt Kemp made the difference with an RBI double and his team-leading 17th homer.

The center fielder, hitting .346 with five RBIs in his last seven games, is batting .377 with six homers and 15 RBIs in 17 career home games against the Mets.

Kemp is 3 for 10 off Santana.