Subway Series commences as Yanks visit Mets

Baseball Betting Lines

05/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Apple bragging rights between the New York Yankees and Mets will be on the line again in the 2010 version of the Subway Series, which kicks off Friday night at Citi Field.

The Mets will play host for this three-game set and will visit the Bronx for interleague play later next month. The NL East inhabitants will face a rough stretch of games at home against the Yankees and division-rival Philadelphia Phillies, and have just two wins in their past nine contests. The Mets just split a two-game road series in Washington and ended a two-game slide with Thursday's 10-7 decision at Nationals Park.

Rod Barajas clubbed a two-run homer, his 10th of the season, David Wright knocked in four runs and both Jason Bay and Ike Davis ended with three hits for the Mets, who are still last in the NL East -- one game behind Washington and six back of front-running Philadelphia. Jeff Francoeur added two hits and two RBI, while Davis scored three runs in a winning effort.

Mets starting pitcher John Maine left after only one batter and five pitches due to precautionary reasons, giving way to Raul Valdes.

"They said they saw something," Maine said. "I never got asked to really see how I was or anything like that. They just said I was out. That's what upset me the most."

Valdes threw a career-high five-plus innings for the win, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts.

Hisanori Takahashi hopes for similar results when he makes his first major league start tonight against the Bronx Bombers. The Japanese left-hander is 3-1 with a 3.60 earned run average in 15 relief appearances this season and pitched three innings in Sunday's 10-8 loss at Florida. He allowed two runs, four hits, struck out four batters and walked four.

Takahashi has a tall task against New York's loaded lineup which features Alex Rodriguez, switch-hitter Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter. He can hope only his teammates give him more than enough run support.

Ten of Takahashi's 15 outings this season have been at home.

The Yankees just finished a seven-game residency a game under .500 and enter this interleague series losers of three straight and four of their last five games. They were just swept in two games by the American League East-rival Tampa Bay Rays and suffered an 8-6 loss yesterday in the series finale.

Andy Pettitte was dealt his first loss of the season (5-1) and battled through five innings on the hill. The veteran lefty gave up seven runs -- six earned -- and nine hits, including three home runs.

"I think they had a pretty good approach against me," Pettitte said. "For Ben (Zobrist) to hit the ball he hit, he had to be thinking out there and staying out there. Most guys don't run into the ball and hit it that far the other way like that."

Juan Miranda homered and scored three times for the Yankees, who are five games behind the Rays for first place in the division. Jeter collected three hits and drove in a pair of runs in defeat.

After its series with the Mets, New York will visit Minnesota for three games at brand-new Target Field.

Struggling right-hander Javier Vazquez will get the start tonight for the Yankees and was 1-4 with an 8.10 earned run average in six starts before making a relief appearance in Monday's 11-9 home win versus Boston. He struck out one batter in the top of the ninth to record the win.

He pitched well in his last start on May 12 at Detroit, but suffered the loss in a 2-0 contest at Comerica Park after giving up both runs and five hits in seven solid innings. Vazquez is counting on familiarity for success this evening, as he is 9-8 with a 3.37 ERA in 23 career starts against the Mets.

Vazquez may have an advantage, since the Yankees have won seven of the past nine matchups against the Mets, including a 5-1 mark in last year's series. The Yankees swept the Mets in three games at Citi Field last June and are 42-30 all-time in this rivalry (20-16 on the road).

Rodriguez owns 10 home runs in his last 18 games versus the Mets.

The Yankees are first all-time in interleague victories, going 133-95 for a .583 winning percentage. They have posted a 10-8 ledger against the National League in each of the previous four seasons, while Jeter is the all-time interleague leader in hits (303), at-bats (895) and runs scored (171). Rodriguez is tops in RBI with 163 and Yanks closer Mariano Rivera owns an interleague-best 59 saves.

The Mets are 105-106 in interleague play.