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Blanton, A's look to continue Mets' June swoon

Jun 23, 2007 - 2:02 PM Oakland (39-33) at Ny Mets (39-32) 7:10 pm EDT

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- The New York Mets offense busted out of their slump against the Oakland Athletics on Friday. It may not continue on Saturday if Joe Blanton has anything to say about it.

Blanton (7-4, 3.43 ERA) takes the mound in the middle game of a three-game interleague series with the Mets on Saturday.

Blanton has been outstanding in June going 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts while holding opponents to a .195 average and pitching at least seven innings each time out.

In his last start Blanton allowed one run and seven hits in eight innings in a 6-1 win over Cincinnati on Monday.

The 27-year-old righthander will look to stop a Mets lineup coasted to a 9-1 win on Friday after managing more than three runs just twice in their previous nine games.

New York, which is a dismal 5-14 in the month of June, will send Orlando Hernandez to the mound in search of their first winning streak they won four in a row from May 25-29.

Hernandez has been one of the main contributors to the Mets' struggles. The righthander has allowed 10 runs in his last 10 innings, and was roughed up for six runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Yankees on Sunday.