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Mets look to ride Alou's hot bat to sweep of Pirates

Aug 16, 2007 - 2:30 PM NY Mets (67-52) at Pittsburgh (49-69) 7:05 pm EDT

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Moises Alou and the New York Mets have gotten well against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Alou and the Mets look to complete a three-game series sweep of the Pirates when the teams square off Thursday.

Alou hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs as the Mets held on for a 10-8 victory on Wednesday. It was the third straight win for New York, which plated five runs in the opening frame and five more in the ninth.

The Mets had lost five of their previous seven contests prior to their current three-game run.

Alou also hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning of Tuesday's 5-4 win. The 41-year-old is hitting .370 (14-for-46) with six home runs and 14 RBI in his last 12 games.

New York leads the Atlanta Braves (64-56) by 3 1/2 games and the Philadelphia Phillies (63-56) by four games in the National League East.

Brian Lawrence (1-0, 4.09 ERA) has been pitching well since coming into the rotation and will try to lead the Mets to their season high-tying fourth straight win.

Pittsburgh counters with Tony Armas (2-3, 6.13), who takes the hill looking to put an end to the Pirates' three-game skid.

Armas is looking for his first three-game winning streak since 2002. The righthander allowed three runs and six hits in six innings of a 13-3 win over San Francisco on Saturday.