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Glavine faces off against Smoltz as Mets aim for sweep

Sep 2, 2007 - 2:20 PM NY Mets (75-60) at Atlanta (69-67) 1:05 pm EDT

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Good friends Tom Glavine and John Smoltz face off for the fourth time this season as the New York Mets aim for a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

Despite coming off a disastrous four-game sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies during the week, the Mets have rebounded by taking the first two games against the Braves.

On Saturday, rookie Mike Pelfrey picked up his first win of the season with six strong innings and New York got homers from Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Lastings Milledge in a 5-1 victory.

The Mets, who halted a season-high five-game losing streak in Friday's opener, leads the Phillies (72-63) by three games in the National League East. The Braves (69-67) are 6 1/2 games off the pace.

History suggests that Glavine (11-6, 4.15 ERA) will struggle in this one. The 41-year-old lefthander is 0-2 in three starts against Smoltz this season, and has not fared well against his former team in general. The future Hall of Famer is just 3-11 with a 5.35 ERA in 18 starts against Atlanta.

In his last outing, Glavine yielded eight hits in seven scoreless innings, but did not figure in a 4-2 loss in 10 innings to Philadelphia on Tuesday. In his last start against Smoltz, he allowed two runs and five hits in six innings of a 2-1 loss on May 24.

Meanwhile, Smoltz (12-6, 3.06) will try and help Atlanta avoid its ninth loss in the last 12 games.

In his last outing, Smoltz allowed three runs and six hits in six innings, but did not factor into the decision in a 4-3 loss to the Florida Marlins on Tuesday.

The righthander threw seven scoreless innings in that May 24 matchup with Glavine.