Subway Series Showdown Preview: Yankees and Mets Need to Win

With the four game series starting Friday at Yankee Stadium at 2 p.m. and then going to Shea for Friday night and day games Saturday and Sunday, both New York teams need to find a way to win this series. 

Splitting the games won't help either club, one of these clubs needs to dominate and take three out of four and put the other New York baseball team down and out.

The pitching match-ups are very interesting this weekend and you have to favor the Mets this time around.  Starting off the double-header, you have Dan Giese, with his one career start going against Mike Pelfrey, who has been a stud for the Mets in his last four of five starts. The one he didn't perform well in was against the Angels, where he gave up six earned runs, but still got the win in six innings. 

At Shea for the nightcap on Friday, you have Sidney Ponson, who is 4-1 on the season, but returning after being released by the Texas Rangers for personal reasons.  He will be matching up against Pedro Martinez, who is 2-1 and has had many memorable match-ups against the Yankees. 

Though the Yankees have sometimes been Pedro's "daddy," you have to like Pedro Martinez giving up less runs then Ponson.  Saturday's game is a great match-up, where it's a toss up. 

Andy Pettitte vs. Johan Santana should be a good one just like last months.  Pettitte has been on a roll and has the slight upper hand, but this is a game Santana was signed for, so you hope he goes out there and makes Pettitte match him pitch for pitch. 

Sunday's game should favor the Mets, with Oliver Perez against Darrell Rasner.  Both these guys are starting to become too inconsistent for either team to keep in the rotation. Mets fans have seen Perez step up in huge situations and this is one of them, for the fans, the team, and his spot in the rotation.

The Yankees, who are six games over .500 with a 42-36 record, have won seven out of 10 going into the rubber game Thursday with the Pirates and are only five-and-a-half out of first in the division.  Winning three out of four would be huge, especially considering the Red Sox and Rays are playing pretty awful National League teams in the Astros and Pirates.

The Mets, even though they are one game under .500, are actually in a better position then the Yankees. The Mets play in a weaker division, maybe even a weaker league though that's an argument for another time.

The Mets will go into the Subway Series finding themselves only three-and-a-half games behind the Phillies, with a lot of games remaining on the schedule.  But if they want their fans to start believing, and they want to get the Phillies to start to worry, then they got to show it in dominating in exciting fashion over the Yankees this weekend. 

Three out of four is must for these Mets, and with the pitching match-ups favoring the Mets greatly, the pressure will be on them from the first pitch Friday at Yankee Stadium, until the last pitch recorded on Sunday.