Mike Pelfrey-Phil Hughes Match Up for New York Battle of Right-Handers

What a pitching matchup we have in store today for game two of the Subway Series. It'll be a battle of two right-handed starters who have this season developed in to big time pitchers.

For the Mets, it'll be Mike Pelfrey. The last time Big Pelf pitched, he was trying to snap a five-game losing streak in Atlanta on a night in which the entire Mets front office was on hand.

He did a fantastic job of doing that, as he went 7 2/3 strong innings, allowing only two runs.

He'll be opposed by the Yankees' strong right-hander Phil Hughes, who in his last start got beat up a little bit for the first time this season. Back on May 17 against the Red Sox, Hughes gave up five runs and two home runs in only five innings of work.

So it'll be a battle of two big right-handers coming off of starts with totally different results. In this heavyweight fight, Mike Pelfrey will weigh in at 5-1, 3.02 ERA and Phil Hughes at 5-0, 2.25 ERA.

Meanwhile, both offenses will look to rebound from flat nights at the plate in game one last night. The Mets only mustered one hit against Javier Vazquez and the Yankees only got five hits with no runs against Hisanori Takahashi.

It'll be a tough test for the Mets offense, which generally doesn't hit against pitchers of Hughes' caliber.

Hughes has a nasty array of pitches, including a fastball that tops out at 94 MPH. There's no reason to believe that a Mets offense, that couldn't hit a pitcher who's ERA was over eight entering last night's game, will hit a pitcher like Hughes.

For the Yankees, it just may be as difficult a task against Mike Pelfrey. Just like Hughes, Pelfrey has a nasty of array of pitches, with a fastball that inconsistently reaches 94 on the gun.

Last night, Yankees hitters weren't catching up to Takahashi's 88 MPH heat, so we'll see what they can do against a guy that they beat up pretty well when they faced him last season at Citi Field.

Right now, both teams are having issues with their bullpens. The Mets are running out of guys to haul out there and the Yankees are seeing their setup man and closer struggle a bit.

Although he got the job done last night, Joba Chamberlain has struggled recently, and had to get out of a jam yesterday.

Mariano Rivera, the great Yankees closer, has been struggling mightily over the past week. Last weekend, he allowed a grand slam to Jason Kubel of the Twins. Earlier in the week, he gave up runs in a tie game to the Red Sox to lose a game for the Yankees. Last night, he barely survived a two-out rally against the Mets.

The Mets can really use a long outing by Pelfrey, as they were so desperate last night, they went with journeyman reliever Elmer Dessens in the seventh inning of a scoreless game.

As a side note, the Mets are reportedly shopping second baseman Luis Castillo, possibly to the Rockies.

The Rockies are looking for a player to replace the "disappointing" Melvin Mora at second, and the Mets are thinking of platooning Alex Cora and—when he returns from the DL—Daniel Murphy at second base.

Mike Pelfrey vs. New York Yankees (career)
1-1, 5.40 ERA, 10 IP, 14 hits, 6 BB, 8 SO

Phil Hughes vs. New York Mets (career- 2 games, 0 started)
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 BB, 3 SO

2010 season series (New York Mets vs. New York Yankees)
May 21: New York Yankees 2, New York Mets 1
Yankees lead series 1-0