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Mets seek end of four-game losing streak

Aug 5, 2008 - 1:29 PM San Diego (43-69) at NY Mets (58-53), 7:10 pm EDT

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- As if a struggling offense isn't bad enough for the New York Mets, they may also be facing the possibility of losing their closer for an indefinite amount of time.

With the status of Billy Wagner in limbo, the Mets attempt to end a four-game slide when they host the San Diego Padres in the series opener of a three-game set on Tuesday.

After managing nearly six runs per game in July, New York's offense stalled while getting swept by the Houston Astros, scoring a total of seven runs.

Making the situation worse is Wagner, who strained his left forearm early last week vs. Florida and aggravated it during Saturday's 5-4 loss to Houston. He will undergo an MRI on Tuesday.

New York will turn to Mike Pelfrey (9-7, 3.91 ERA), who will look to rebound from a rare poor showing his last time out.

The righthander, who was 7-0 with a 2.57 ERA as the Mets won 10 of his last 11 starts, surrendered five runs and eight hits over four innings in Wednesday's 7-5 loss at Florida.

He'll be opposed by Chris Young (4-4, 4.12), who was dominant in his return from a broken nose and fractured skull since being hit in the face by a line drive on May 21. However, the righthander did not receive a decision in last Tuesday's 3-0 loss to Arizona after allowing two hits with eight strikeouts over five scoreless frames.