Mets 59-62 vs Padres 54-69 Preview

Jon Niese 11-9, 4.03 ERA

Cory Luebke 4-6, 3.09 ERA

The Mets haven’t won a series in San Diego in nine years, but snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Padres 5-4 in 10 innings Monday. It was only the 9th win in the last 29 games the Mets have won in San Diego. The Mets, who split a 4-game home series with the Padres last week, are now on the verge of winning their first series at San Diego since sweeping three games at Qualcomm Stadium from May 16-18, 2002. The key catalyst's in helping the Mets win this series are Lucas Duda and Angel Pagan. Duda had three hits with a solo homer Monday, improving to 10-for-20 (.500) with five RBIs in five meetings with the Padres this season. Since replacing Carlos Beltran in the Mets' line-up, Duda is  hitting .414 with two homers and seven RBIs in his last eight games. Angel Pagan has also been hot at the plate, hitting .366 with six runs scored in the past nine games. His had two homeruns last week against the Padres at Citi Field and collected two more hits on Monday. 

Jon Niese gets the ball today for the Mets, who is looking to extend his career-high road winning streak to six as he makes his first appearance at Petco Park. He’s 5-0 with a 3.65 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 37 innings over his last six road starts. Unfortunately Niese took a lose in a 3-2 game last week against the Padres in which he gave up three runs, two were earned and striking out seven over 7 2/3 innings. Niese also had a career high pitch count of 122 pitches.

“He pitched an absolutely outstanding ballgame,” manager Terry Collins told the team’s official website. “He had command of his stuff throughout the game - in control. The only reason I took him out when I did was the pitch count.”

Jon Niese:

• 1-1, 4.50 ERA, 18.0IP 25H 9ER 4BB 19K 1HR (Last 3 Games)
• Away (This Year) 6-3, 4.64 ERA, 66.0IP 67H 34ER 16BB 57K 6HRs .265BAA (11 Starts)
• Career vs. Padres - 1-1, 1.08 ERA, 16.2IP 8H 2ER 2BB 13K 1HR .140BAA (2 Starts)

Cory Luebke:

• 1-1, 3.72 ERA, 19.1IP 18H 8ER 4BB 20K (Last 3 Games)
• Home (This Season) - 2-3, 4.05 ERA, 46.2IP 39H 31ER 12BB 42K 5HRs .234 (19 Games, 4 Starts)
• Last Game vs Mets - 5.0IP 3H 2ER 4BB 8K (ND)

In Case You Missed It:

• At 38 years and 342 days, Jason Isringhausen is the fourth oldest player ever to reach 300 saves.
• Josh Thole homered for the third time this season. He was 3-for-3 with two walks.
• Lucas Duda clubbed his fifth home run of the season, a 435-foot shot to right field that gave him a homer in two consecutive games.
• CF Angel Pagan had two hits, extending his hitting streak to a season-high nine games, hitting .366 (15-for-41) over that streak.

Quote of the Game:

"It was a little crazy tonight, but I made them pretty crazy for a few years now. That's to be expected for the last one, the important one." - Jason Isringhausen on his 300th save

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