Game 3 Preview: Padres @ Mets

A couple of rough outings from our no. 1 and no. 2 pitchers have the Padres looking to avoid a sweep in the series finale at Citi Field tomorrow. Eric Stults will be sent to the mound with the task of getting the team's first win of the season. Stults has a 2-1 record and 2.57 ERA in three career starts against the Mets, totaling 21 innings of work. However, of the 13 position players on the current Mets roster, Stults has only faced four. So he'll be seeing some fresh faces at the plate tomorrow.

During Spring Training, Stults went 3-2 with a 5.87 ERA over six starts. A far from impressive offseason, but he was a big help down the stretch in 2012 as our starting pitchers kept hitting the DL. Last season he appeared in 20 games for the club (15 games as a starter and 5 games as a reliever). He threw a total of 99 innings while keeping his ERA below 3.00. Five of those innings were against the Mets at Citi Field, where he allowed just one unearned run on four hits and a walk to get the win.

Dillon Gee will be the starter for New York. He missed the second half of last season after having to undergo emergency shoulder surgery in July. Gee is a perfect 2-for-2 in his starts against the Padres. In those two starts, he has tossed 13 2/3 innings and struck out 14 batters while boasting a 1.32 ERA. Yonder Alonso, John Baker, and Everth Cabrera have all hit 1-for-3 against him and Cody Ransom is 2-for-4 with a home run. Like Stults, Gee didn't have a very strong Spring, but he pitched well before hitting the DL last season and his past success against San Diego will be a good motivator for him.