avatar

Pre Game: Mets vs. Phillies (Game Three)

by Michael Baron on July 5th, 2009 at 10:06 am

Update, 11:50 am:

David Lennon, in a post to Twitter, says that Fernando Martinez‘s injured right knee is improving, but he will be checked out by doctors in New York tomorrow.

Original Post:

The Mets (39-41) close out their three game series with the Phillies (41-37) this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Alex Cora will lead off, followed by Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Ryan Church at cleanup and playing right field, Nick Evans in left field, Jeremy Reed in center field, Brian Schneider, and Luis Castillo.

Johan Santana (9-6, 3.34 ERA) will start today for the Mets. After two fantastic starts against the Rays and Cardinals, Santana struggled last Tuesday against the Brewers, allowing five earned runs on nine hits in six innings. Since June 2nd, Santana is just 2-3 with a 6.19 ERA.

Joe Blanton (4-4, 5.08 ERA) will start today for the Phillies. Blanton is looking for his first victory since June 1st, and he is 1-1 with four no-decisions since, but has a respectable 3.65 ERA over that span. He has fallen victim to the home run ball, allowing nine of them in his last 37 1/3 innings.