Padres seek second straight win in series with Mets

NEW YORK -- Two pitchers who took strides forward in the first half of the season will make their second-half debuts Tuesday night when the New York Mets host the San Diego Padres in the middle game of a three-game series at Citi Field.

Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler (3-6, 4.44 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Padres rookie left-hander Eric Lauer (5-6, 4.87) in a battle between the worst teams in the National League.

The Padres posted a 3-2 win in the opener Monday night when two Mets errors led directly to two San Diego runs and saddled New York ace Jacob deGrom with the loss.

"He's the best pitcher in the game right now, I feel like," Padres outfielder Wil Myers said of deGrom, who leads the majors with a 1.71 ERA. "Just to have the confidence to come in here, or the confidence after knowing that you (came) up here and beat that guy, it can lead to other things as well."

The Mets (40-57) have six games in hand on the Padres (42-61), whom they "lead" by a game in the race for the NL's worst record.

The Padres will look to tie the Mets behind Lauer, who was originally listed as Monday's starter. Manager Andy Green said Monday afternoon that the team always intended for Joey Lucchesi to start Monday -- he picked up the win by allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings -- and for Lauer to start Tuesday in order to give him the maximum amount of rest coming out of the All-Star break.

Lauer last pitched in the Padres' first-half finale on July 15, when he took the loss after allowing five runs in a career-low two innings as San Diego fell to the Chicago Cubs 7-4.

Green said Lauer was the victim of tough luck and soft hits in the outing against the Cubs, which was preceded by an eight-start stretch in which Lauer allowed two runs or fewer six times and posted a 2.33 ERA while lowering his overall ERA from 7.67 to 4.40.

"I think he's a young guy that showed up in the big leagues (and) in the first month was a little bit of a shell shock," Green said of Lauer, who had never pitched above Double-A before this season. "Never really been hit in his life. And since then he's punching back. He's been punching back hard."

So, too, has Wheeler, who picked up a long-awaited win in his most recent start July 14, when he allowed four runs in 7 2/3 innings as the Mets beat the Washington Nationals 7-4.

It was the first win since April 29 and the longest start in more than four years for Wheeler, who missed the 2015 and 2016 seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Wheeler opened this year in the minor leagues, but he has begun to earn the trust of rookie manager Mickey Callaway by posting a 3.63 ERA in his last 11 starts.

Against the Nationals, Callaway visited Wheeler at the mound in the eighth inning and decided to keep him in the game, which is a courtesy that Callaway usually only extends to staff aces deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.

"I'm walking out there to see if he wants to stay and I'm not even halfway and he's like, 'I want to stay in the game,'" Callaway said after the win. "I don't know that you would have seen that in the past. Once he's in that quality start area or whatever, he wants to stay out there and face their best hitters.

"It's nice to get him a win. I think that's his first win since April. He deserves about 10 of them."

Wheeler is 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA in four career starts against the Padres. Lauer has never faced the Mets.