Yankees-Mets Preview

The Subway Series has been dominated by the visiting team in 2008. That's a trend the New York Yankees hope will continue heading into their final game ever at Shea Stadium.

The Yankees look to earn a split of the season series with the New York Mets on Sunday when the New York rivals meet for the last time this year.

The Mets (39-41) won twice at Yankee Stadium in May, and also won in their final visit to the Bronx on Friday behind Carlos Delgado's club-record nine RBIs in a 15-6 win in the opener of a two-stadium doubleheader. They scored a total of 33 runs in their three games at Yankee Stadium.

It's been a different story for Mets hitters in Queens, where Sidney Ponson surprisingly pitched the Yankees to a 6-0 win Friday night before Andy Pettitte outpitched Johan Santana on Saturday in a 3-2 victory.

"This is what makes the season -- the one-run games," Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth said Saturday. "It was just a big win all around today."

The Mets are hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position in the two games at Shea, and Delgado is 0-for-6 with two walks since his big afternoon in the Bronx.

Besides Delgado, the Mets haven't gotten much from center fielder Carlos Beltran since returning home. Beltran scored four times in Friday afternoon's win, but the Yankees have limited him to one hit and no runs in six at-bats at Shea.

The Yankees have won all three road games against the Mets in a season just once, a sweep in 2003. They are 17-15 all-time across town, not including their 2-1 record in the 2000 World Series at Shea, where they won their 26th and most recent championship.

The Yankees will count on struggling Darrell Rasner (4-5, 4.50) to try to continue to keep the Mets at bay. Rasner has allowed seven runs in two of his last three outings, including Tuesday's 12-5 loss at Pittsburgh in which he pitched five innings and gave up a season-high 10 hits.

"I need to forget this start," Rasner said.

Since beginning the season 3-0, Rasner is 1-5 with a 6.00 ERA in his last six outings, and hasn't pitched past the fifth inning in his last three starts.

The right-hander didn't even get that far in his only career appearance against the Mets on May 19, 2007. He was struck on his pitching hand by Endy Chavez's comebacker on his ninth pitch, left the game and was charged with a 10-7 loss for the Yankees.

Mets starter Oliver Perez (5-5, 5.29) has been pitching poorly this year, but he has had plenty of success in his career against the Yankees. He is 4-1 with a 2.88 ERA against them in five starts, including an 11-2 win at Yankee Stadium on May 18 in which he yielded two runs over 7 2-3 innings.

The Yankees will have some decisions to make about their lineup, since their starting outfield of Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu is a combined 1-for-28 (.036) against the left-hander with eight strikeouts.

June has been Perez's worst month of the season, as he is 1-2 with a 6.46 ERA in five starts. He gave up six runs over five innings in Tuesday's 11-0 loss to Seattle.