Giants southpaw Noah Lowry, the starting pitcher for Friday's opener of a three-game set at Shea Stadium against the Mets, is in a good groove, sporting a 1.93 ERA over his last two outings.

He's gone seven innings each time. The second-year starter's vaunted changeup had been up in the zone and hitters were keying on other pitches, but he's been sharper lately. He's 2-5, 5.37 overall.

Lowry makes his second career start against the Mets. He allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings in a 7-3 win last Aug. 20 at SBC Park, establishing a personal-best 10 strikeouts.

The Giants dropped their seventh in a row Thursday night, losing, 6-5, to the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Pitching matchup
SF: LHP Noah Lowry
• 2-5, 5.37 ERA in 2005
• Hasn't faced NYM in 2005
• 1-0, 4.05 ERA vs. NYM in 2004

NYM: LHP Tom Glavine
• 3-5, 5.05 ERA in 2005
• Hasn't faced SF in 2005
• 0-0, 9.00 ERA vs. SF in 2004

Player to watch
Moises Alou is hitting .271 lifetime against Glavine. Despite being limited to 37 games because of injury and illness, Alou leads the team with nine homers and has 26 RBIs.

Quotable
"I don't want to talk about a 'lost season.' Imagine if Houston called it a lost season last year."-- Giants skipper Felipe Alou

On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• SF: KTVU
• NYM: WPIX

On radio
• SF: KNBR 680
• NYM: WFAN 660, WADO 1280 (Español)

Quick hits
The last time the Giants were swept by the Phillies was in August 1995 at Veterans Stadium. ... The club got back-to-back homers for the first time this season when J.T. Snow and Alou connected on consecutive pitches Thursday night.

On deck
•  Saturday: at Mets, 10:20 a.m. PT
•  Sunday: at Mets, 5:05 p.m. PT
•  Tuesday: vs. Royals, 7:15 p.m. PT