Early start as Giants, Sanchez go for sweep in N.Y.

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May 5, 2011

GIANTS (15-15) vs.
NY METS (12-18)

Coverage begins at 9:30 a.m. on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area

NEW YORK (AP) -- Getting just enough offense, the San Francisco Giants are on the verge of sweeping their first series in 2011. They haven't accomplished that feat against the New York Mets in nearly nine years.

The reigning World Series champions look to move back above .500 by capping this 10-game trip with another win over the sputtering Mets in the conclusion of this three-game series at Citi Field on Thursday.

San Francisco (15-15) has won six of the last seven with the Mets (12-18) after opening this series with a 7-6, 10-inning win Tuesday and following that with Wednesday's 2-0 victory.

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Both contests featured timely hitting, as Pat Burrell broke Wednesday's deadlock with an RBI single in the sixth after Aubrey Huff connected for the go-ahead homer in the 10th a night earlier.

San Francisco is hitting .263 with two homers in this series. That's a vast improvement from the previous 11 games when the Giants lost eight, hitting two homers with a .203 average - .132 with runners in scoring position.

Now, the Giants are in position to sweep the Mets for the first time since Aug. 20-22, 2002. They last swept them on the road May 7-9, 2002, at Shea Stadium.

Huff has four hits in this series, and a .426 average with two homers and seven RBIs over his last 12 games against New York.

The Giants will give the ball to Jonathan Sanchez (2-1, 2.73 ERA), who will try to put together a better start as he goes for a third consecutive winning decision.

The left-hander, 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his last five starts, walked or hit seven of the first 10 batters he faced Saturday before settling down to allow one unearned run and two hits in five innings while not getting a decision in a 2-1 win at Washington. He ended up walking a season-high six, hitting two and striking out seven while getting out of two bases-loaded jams.

"A strange game," manager Bruce Bochy said. "Jonathan - he didn't know where the ball was going. He was all over the board."

Sanchez's last five starts against the Mets have resulted in losses for the Giants, while he's 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA as the offense has provided him with eight total runs of support.

New York has dropped five of six and is batting .108 with runners in scoring position the last three games. The club went 1 for 9 in that scenario Wednesday, totaling six hits and striking out 16 times.

"That's exactly why we're sitting where we are," manager Terry Collins said. "With guys in scoring position where we've got to put the ball in play, we've got to go up there, we got to get ready to hit, we can't be late getting our feet down, we've got to get in there being ready to hit, we've got to hunt something and we can't miss it."

Carlos Beltran is doing his part, going 7 for 17 with five RBIs in four games. He's hitting .429 over his past nine meetings with the Giants.

Mike Pelfrey (1-3, 7.39) looks to continue his winning streak at Citi Field. The right-hander is 4-0 with a 2.20 ERA in his last seven starts there, going 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA in two this season.

He's 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in three career home meetings with the Giants.

Pelfrey battled through the flu Friday, giving up four runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 10-3 loss at Philadelphia.

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