• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Durbin, Phillies try to gain ground against Mets

Aug 27, 2007 - 1:31 PM Ny Mets (73-56) at Philadelphia (67-62) 7:05 pm EDT

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies host the New York Mets in the opener of a four-game series Monday.

Philadelphia, which has lost six of its last eight games, trails the Mets by six games in the National League East.

The Phillies also have fallen three games behind San Diego (70-59) in the wild card race.

J.D. Durbin (5-3, 5.44 ERA) takes the mound for the Phillies. The righthander lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday after allowing five runs and seven hits in six innings.

Durbin lost to the Mets on June 29 after getting ripped for six runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He is 5-2 with a 3.45 ERA since that outing.

Meanwhile, the Mets have won eight of their last 13 and can further distance themselves from the pack in a six-game stretch against Philadelphia and Atlanta, (67-64) which is seven games back.

Brian Lawrence (1-1, 5.57) gets the ball for New York, which won two of three here in late June. In his last start, Lawrence allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings in a 7-5 loss to San Diego on Tuesday.