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Mets and Yankees battle in rubber match game on Sunday night

Jun 17, 2007 - 1:34 PM Ny Mets (37-29) at Ny Yankees (34-32) 8:05 pm EDT

BRONX, New York (Ticker) - To move a season-high three games over .500, the New York Yankees turn to Chin-Ming Wang to continue his masterful pitching.

Wang and the Yankees aim to take the rubber match in their interleague three-game series against the New York Mets on Sunday night.

The Yankees outscored the Mets, 11-8, on Saturday to win their 10th game in 11 chances. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez each hit two-run homers as the Yankees pounded out 15 hits against Tom Glavine and the Mets' ineffective bullpen.

Jeter went 4-for-4 to increase his career batting average vs. the Mets to .383 in 59 career regular-season games. The Yankee captain also has a 14-game hitting streak against his crosstown rival. Rodriguez' 26th homer leads the majors and leaves him 10 short of 500.

Wang (6-4, 3.49 ERA) has been outstanding during the Yankees' revival. The righthander, who has never faced the Mets, has won his last three starts, allowing just five runs in 21 1/3 innings. In his last start, the 27-year old native of Taiwan yielded one run and six hits in seven innings to help defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-1, on Monday.

The Mets, who snapped a five-game losing streak on Friday, took Game One of this series on Friday, 2-0 behind a strong pitching performance by Oliver Perez.

The Mets send former Yankee Orlando Hernandez to the mound in hopes of keeping their minute lead in the National League East in tact. Hernandez (3-2, 2.38), who pitched for the Yankees from 1998-2004, is 0-3 with a 4.26 ERA in three career starts against them.

The 38-year-old from Havana, Cuba needs to pitch better than his last start if his club wants to maintain its 1 1/2 game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. The righthander surrendered five runs and seven hits in a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.