Mets at Phillies
The 2016 New York Mets are hardly the 1927 New York Yankees, but their recent success - particularly against the Philadelphia Phillies - certainly suggests otherwise. The Mets look to continue their mashing in Philadelphia on Wednesday when the teams conclude their three-game series.
New York enters Wednesday's action with 10 home runs in the series, compared to 16 total hits for Philadelphia, in winning the first two games by a combined 16-3 score. Neil Walker has three homers in the series, while David Wright and Lucas Duda have two apiece for the Mets, who have hit 28 home runs in their last 12 games at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia, meanwhile, has lost four of its last five games with those defeats coming by a combined margin of 33-5. The Phillies will aim to avoid a sweep behind Jeremy Hellickson, while the Mets turn to veteran Bartolo Colon, who will become the second-winningest Dominican pitcher if he can record his 220th victory Wednesday.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), TCN (Philadelphia)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Bartolo Colon (1-1, 2.13 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jeremy Hellickson (1-1, 4.30)
Colon made his first start of the season against Philadelphia on April 9 and took a hard-luck loss after allowing one run in six innings. He struck out seven without issuing a walk that day and has struck out 13 against only one walk this year in 12 2/3 innings. Ryan Howard has homered three times against Colon but is just 6-for-26 against him.
Hellickson pitched well in his first two starts, including a 5 2/3-inning effort against the Mets on April 10 in which he yielded two runs and three hits. He is coming off his worst start of 2016 - a 9-1 defeat to Washington in which he gave up six runs over three frames. Curtis Granderson, who is 3-for-20 with seven strikeouts against Hellickson, could get the night off against the former American League Rookie of the Year.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Mets have hit 17 home runs over their last five games.
2. The Phillies have gone nine straight games without scoring more than three runs.
3. New York SS Asdrubal Cabrera had his six-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday when he was the only Mets starter without a hit.