The Mets come into the Subway Series mere percentage points behind the Yankees, but the Mets have been one of the surprise teams in baseball and enter the weekend series with momentum and their no-hitter pitcher on the mound.
Johan Santana will start for the Mets on Friday night in his first game since tossing the first no-hitter in franchise history, and he'll do so with two extra days of rest. Despite throwing a career-high 134 pitches a week ago, manager Terry Collins said the lefty will be treated like it is a "normal start," after Santana's bullpen session went outstanding. "He threw great. He felt great," the manager said.
Collins also said he would like to see his team model themselves like the Yankees, at least in their approach to the game. "For years, one of the things I always saw with the Yankees is that everybody else's game rises when they play them," Collins said, "and they just maintain it (playing at a high level).
"And that's what I want to do. I want to maintain that constant attitude of, 'Hey, look, we can go out and we can play against anybody.' I think that's what makes them so successful over the years. Everybody is out to beat them, and they know it. I think that's how I want our guys to walk out."
The Mets will try to show off their winning attitude after salvaging the final game of their series against the Nationals. R.A. Dickey improved his record to 9-1 after tossing 7 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He extended his scoreless inning streak to a career-high 24 2/3 innings.
He will now give way to Santana, who has a scoreless streak of his own he hopes to continue. Santana and the Mets should have the benefit of seeing Jason Bay in the lineup. The leftfielder was poised to make his first start Thursday since fracturing a rib on April 23. He was in the starting lineup before becoming sick and having to be scratched. He believes an antibiotic he was taking was the root of the problem but expects to be ready for Friday night.
"It was just an adverse reaction to the antibiotic I was taking, so hopefully I'll be fine tomorrow," Bay said.