Mets-Angels Preview

C.J. Wilson is looking for another terrific outing for the Los Angeles Angels.

The same could be said for New York Mets counterpart Bartolo Colon.

Wilson will try to continue his interleague success in the finale of this three-game set Sunday, when the Angels attempt to beat Colon for just the second time since he left them.

Wilson led Los Angeles with a career-high 17 wins last year, while his 3.39 ERA trailed only Jered Weaver's 3.27 among the team's core starters.

That success hasn't fully crossed over into 2014, with Wilson (1-1, 4.61) giving up six runs and eight hits with eight strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-3 loss to Seattle on April 1. However, he was superb six days later, allowing one run and four hits while fanning seven in eight innings of a 9-1 victory at Houston.

Wilson credited the dramatic improvement to sticking with his plan.

"Just told myself I'm going to pick my spot and stay with my spot and not try to overdo it," Wilson said. "I was able to throw curveballs for strikes and changeups for strikes, which was big. I only threw a couple sliders because I didn't really need to."

Wilson tends to have few issues against NL opponents, going 5-0 with a 3.19 ERA over his last nine interleague starts. That includes winning his last two while yielding three earned runs in 13 innings.

His only appeared against the Mets (5-6) produced a save in an 8-7 win in New York in 2008 despite yielding two runs, three hits and two walks in one inning.

New York is expected to counter Wilson with Colon (1-1, 2.08), a member of the Angels (5-6) from 2005-07 who won the Cy Young Award in his first season there. The portly right-hander has dominated Los Angeles since leaving via free agency, going 6-1 with a 1.75 ERA in nine starts after winning three straight behind a 0.82 ERA.

Colon is also coming off his best start so far for the Mets, scattering six hits in seven innings of a 4-0 win at Atlanta. That came six days after he allowed two solo homers and three runs overall in six innings of a 5-1 defeat to Washington.

Travis d'Arnaud said catching Colon is "a lot of fun."

"He commands all his pitches," said d'Arnaud, who is expected to complete the battery for the third time Sunday after getting a day off. "What else could you ask for from a pitcher?"

Solving Mike Trout might be a priority for Colon since he's allowed the 22-year-old superstar center fielder to go 7 for 14 with two homers.

Trout has two hits in each of the first two games of this series, giving him a .327 career average in interleague play. He owns a .457 average with five RBIs and six runs over the past nine meetings with NL foes.

Albert Pujols is 10 for 28 (.357) with two homers, five RBIs and six runs over his last six meetings with the Mets. However, he was 0 for 7 versus Colon last year.

Omar Quintanilla may play ahead of Ruben Tejada at short for New York once more after going 3 for 6 with two RBIs on Saturday in his first start of the season.