(My Sportsbook) - New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel seems to have rubbed off pretty well on the once-floundering ballclub. The Mets will try to stay the course tonight, when they host the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game series from Shea Stadium.

The Mets have won three in a row and five of their last seven games to pull within 2 1/2 games of Philadelphia for the top spot in the National League East division. After New York dropped the opener of a four-game series with the Phillies on Friday, it responded with three straight wins to make the division race a little more interesting.

In Monday's 10-9 win in the finale of the set, David Wright homered and drove in four runs to power the Mets. Former Phillie Endy Chavez went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI, while Jose Reyes went 2-for-4 and scored twice in the win. Veteran starter Pedro Martinez recorded the win after giving up just two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Billy Wagner held on for his 20th save of the season for the Mets, who moved over the .500 mark (45-44) for the first time since June 5. New York will open a six-game homestand on Tuesday, and is 22-18 at Shea this season.

Taking the ball for the Mets tonight will be Mike Pelfrey, who is 6-6 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 starts. Pelfrey has won his last four outings and is unbeaten in the past seven trips to the mound. He beat St. Louis last Thursday with seven innings of one-run ball in an 11-1 drubbing at Busch Stadium.

The right-hander, who is 0-4 with a 3.55 ERA in his last six home starts, has never faced San Francisco in his career.

San Francisco has alternated wins and losses over its last eight games, and will open a six-game road trip on Tuesday in Flushing, New York. It is 22-22 away from the bay in 2008.

The Giants lost two of three games to the NL West-rival Los Angeles Dodgers, including Sunday's 5-3 setback in the series finale. Emmanuel Burriss had three hits and a run scored, while Rich Aurilia belted a solo home run, the 1,500th hit of his career, for the Giants, who are five games behind both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in the standings.

Starter Matt Cain was tagged with the loss, giving up five runs on eight hits in six innings of work.

All-Star hurler and young right-hander Tim Lincecum will try to tame the suddenly-hot New York lineup this evening. Lincecum is an impressive 10-1 with a 2.49 earned run average in 18 games (17 starts) this season, and is 6-0 over the previous 12 trips to the mound.

Lincecum defeated the Chicago Cubs his last time out on Thursday, as he tossed six innings of three-run ball and yielded seven hits. It wasn't a remarkable performance, but it kept Lincecum's unbeaten streak intact.

The product of Washington will put another streak on the line tonight for the Giants. Lincecum is 7-0 with a 1.87 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) as the visitor this season, while holding the home team to a .232 batting average.

Lincecum faced the Mets just once in his brief career on May 29, 2007 at Shea Stadium. In a 5-4 loss to the Mets, Lincecum permitted three runs and three hits in seven innings for the no-decision.

New York won two of three games against the Giants at AT&T Park from June 2-4 this season. The Mets have won six of the last nine matchups in this series.