(Betting Express) - Fireworks are sure to fly in South Philadelphia tonight, as the Phillies and New York Mets renew their National League East rivalry with the opener of a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies and Mets battled down the stretch last year for the NL East crown, with Philadelphia beating New York in each of the final eight meetings between the clubs. Those setbacks helped spark an epic collapse by the Mets, who blew a seven-game advantage with 17 games to play and lost 12 of their final 17 games. That allowed Philadelphia to capture the division title on the season's final day.

New York has gotten some payback this year, beating Philadelphia in four of the six meetings so far, but it is the Phillies who lead the NL East by 2 1/2 games over Florida. The Mets are third, 4 1/2 games off the pace.

New York sends its big offseason pickup to the hill tonight, as Johan Santana faces the Phillies for the second time this season. He defeated them on April 18 after allowing three runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts over seven innings.

Santana has a 3.09 earned run average in two career starts versus Philadelphia.

The left-hander has lost three straight starts and four consecutive decisions, however, going 1-4 in June despite a 2.27 ERA. New York scored fewer than three runs in four of Santana's six June starts, including Saturday's matchup against the Yankees.

Santana gave up three runs on four hits and four walks over six innings versus the Yanks, while striking out eight in a 3-2 loss. On the season, the 29-year- old is 7-7 with a 3.01 ERA.

New York has managed to score 25 runs over its last three games, while also allowing just 13. The club had little problem in its series finale with St. Louis on Thursday, rolling to an 11-1 rout.

Carlos Delgado hit a two-run homer and had three total RBI, while Jose Reyes smacked a bases-loaded triple as part of a six-run third inning. Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson each collected a pair of hits and an RBI for the Mets, who earned the split of the four-game series and have won three of five overall.

Easley is filling in at second base after starter Luis Castillo landed on the 15-day disabled list due to a quadriceps injury.

Philadelphia's once-struggling offense has also gotten back on track. The club has scored 35 runs over its last six tests -- going 4-2 in that span -- after plating only 15 runs in its previous eight games.

The Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Braves on Thursday with a 4-1 victory. Starter Cole Hamels tossed 8 2/3 excellent innings, narrowly missing his second straight shutout over Atlanta, while Pedro Feliz, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard all homered in the win.

Utley smacked his major league-leading 24th homer of the season, while Howard went deep for the second straight game and is tops in the NL with 72 RBI. Also, Pat Burrell went 2-for-4 with a double for Philadelphia and is hitting .429 (6-for-14) over his last four games.

Burrell has clubbed Mets pitching throughout his career, blasting 41 homers while driving in 102 runs in 140 career games against them. However, he is hitting just .211 (4-for-19) without a homer in six games this year against New York.

Hamels was to pitch tonight, but was moved up a day to replace Brett Myers after the struggling hurler was sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Monday to work out of his slump. In need of a starter tonight, the Phils have turned to J.A. Happ.

Happ has made just one start in his career, and that actually came last year versus the Mets on June 30. It wasn't a day to remember for the 25-year-old, who allowed five runs on seven hits -- including three homers -- in four innings to take the loss.

The left-hander is 5-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 17 starts at Lehigh Valley this season.