Thanks to some shoddy bullpen work over the first two games and some shoddy situational hitting in the third, the Mets (58-53) were swept by the Houston Astros over the weekend, pushing them three games behind the NL East-leading Phillies. Sitting on a four-game losing streak, the Mets now return home to welcome the San Diego Padres (43-69) into Shea. The Pads are a distant last in the NL West, having lost 12 of 15 series since completing a four-game sweep of the Mets at the beginning of June.

Righties Chris Young (4-4, 4.12) and Mike Pelfrey (9-7, 3.91) will pitch in Tuesday’s opener, followed by Cha Seung Baek (3-6, 5.22) and Pedro Martinez (3-2, 6.16) on Wednesday. Josh Banks (3-4, 3.65) will battle Johan Santana (9-7, 2.86) in the finale.

Game 1: Chris Young, RHP

What’s the Story? Chris Young had a fantastic 2007, looking like a Cy Young candidate until a back injury sustained in early August hampered his effectiveness down the stretch. All in all, he finished up with a 9-8 record and a 3.12 ERA over 173 innings. This year, Young had another run of bad luck when he took an Albert Pujols line drive off his face, causing him to miss two months with facial fractures and a deviated septum. Young doesn’t have top-of-the-line velocity—his fastball sits in the high 80s and tops out around 90, but it’s lively, and he can command it exceedingly well. He also possesses a great hard slider, an above average slow curve, and an average changeup.

Last Year: Young made one start against the Mets and was removed after throwing just 64 pitches over five innings. He allowed four runs on five hits—including a two-run homer hit by Carlos Beltran—and two walks before being removed with back trouble. He struck out five.

What to Expect: Young has a finesse pitcher’s stuff, but a power pitcher’s mentality. He lives off his fastball, throwing it almost 80% of the time, turning mainly to his slider to mix things up. He will throw a few changeups, principally to lefties, and he throws his curve less and less as he gets older. The result is an extreme flyball pitcher who gets a lot of strikeouts and will walk a few batters. I wouldn’t expect his recovery from the injury to affect him too much; he threw five shutout innings and struck out eight batters in his first start back, throwing 88 pitches.

Game 2: Cha Seung Baek, RHP

What’s the Story?You can find my original scouting report on Baek here.

This Year: Baek had one of his better starts of the season against the Mets. He went six innings and found himself repeatedly in trouble but worked out of it each time. Despite allowing seven hits and two walks, Baek held the Mets to just one run while striking out two.

What to Expect: Baek’s been a little up-and-down since joining the Padres at the end of May. He does have very good control, having walked just 12 over 58 innings, but sometimes he catches a little too much of the plate. Baek doesn’t like to rely on his fastball, instead preferring to utilize his slider, curve, and changeup. He’ll throw a ton of sliders, in particular. In truth, Baek would probably be a little more effective if he worked off his fastball a little more, paring down his use of his slider to situations where he really needs it.

Game 3: Josh Banks, RHP

What’s the Story?You can find my original scouting report on Baek here.

This Year: Banks pitched very effectively against the Mets his last time out. He went six innings and allowed one run on five hits while striking out five and walking no one. He didn’t get the win, however, as the Padre offense didn’t pull ahead until the bottom of the ninth to win 2-1.

What to Expect: In his last start against the Mets, Banks used his fastball very well, throwing it to both sides of the plate while keep the ball down. Of the 19 balls opposing batters put into play, 12 were on the ground. I wouldn’t necessarily expect more of the same this time out; on the season his groundball rate is only 34.7%, which makes him a flyball pitcher. Otherwise, expect Banks to throw strikes and use a lot of offspeed stuff.

Overall: I don’t have a lot of faith in the Mets after the debacle in Houston, so I’m picking them to lose the first two games. No reason, really, just because. I don’t think they’ll be as fooled by Banks the second time around, and Santana is due a little bit of good luck.