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Mets-Giants Preview

May 14, 2009 - 1:11 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

New York (18-14) at San Francisco (18-14), 10:15 p.m. EDT

John Maine can't be too critical of his recent results, but the New York Mets right-hander would like to make it to the seventh inning in his next outing.

Maine tries to win his fourth straight start Thursday night as the Mets take on the San Francisco Giants to begin a 10-game road trip.

New York (18-15) opens this four-game set after losing 8-7 in 12 innings to Atlanta on Wednesday. Fernando Tatis hit his seventh career grand slam and Gary Sheffield had a tying home run in the eighth, but New York finished 6-2 on its homestand as Ken Takahashi gave up a homer in the 12th to Martin Prado.

Maine (3-2, 4.54 ERA), who has gone six innings in each of his last three starts, looks to give the Mets' bullpen a much-needed break after seven relievers pitched 7 1-3 innings Wednesday.

Maine yielded one run as the Mets defeated Pittsburgh 10-1 on Saturday. He walked two in his 102-pitch outing after giving up an average of 4.7 walks over his previous three starts.

"It's just three good starts in a row, and next time hopefully I'll lower the pitches a little bit and get to the seventh," said Maine, who has a 2.00 ERA during his winning streak.

He's 1-0 with a 3.78 ERA in three career starts versus San Francisco.

The Mets continue to play without first baseman Carlos Delgado, who's missed the last three games with a hip injury and could be placed on the disabled list.

"I feel a little better today. You know, it's still pretty sore and stiff," said Delgado, batting .298 with four homers and 23 RBIs. "I guess in the next couple days we'll have a better picture of what we are going to do."

Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran have helped fill the offensive void in Delgado's absence. Reyes is hitting .462 (12 for 26) with six RBIs and four stolen bases in his last six contests, while Beltran is among the NL batting leaders at .370 and extended his hitting streak to seven games with a 10th-inning single Wednesday.

Beltran batted .333 with a homer and eight RBIs as the Mets won the final five meetings with the Giants (18-15) last season.

Beltran is 1 for 6 lifetime against Thursday's starter, Jonathan Sanchez, who looks to rebound from one of his worst outings of the year.

In Saturday's 8-0 loss to Los Angeles, Sanchez (1-3, 4.78) walked four and matched a season high with five runs allowed. He has not reached the sixth inning in his last three starts.

"I'm not getting my job done," Sanchez said.

The left-hander, though, is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two home starts this season. He's 0-3 with an 8.59 ERA on the road.

Sanchez is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two career starts versus the Mets.

San Francisco has won 12 of 17 at AT&T Park this season.