The Mets travel to St. Louis to face the Cardinals tonight, starting at 7:10 EST. The pitchers for tonight’s game will be John Maine (8-5) for the Mets and the surprise of the year Kyle Lohse (9-2) for the Cardinals.

Keys to the Game

• Crucial Road Trip: Starting tonight, the Mets begin a grueling eight game stretch where they play the Cardinals and Phillies four games each. Maine will need to get the road trip off on the right foot tonight against arguably the Cardinals top pitcher this year. The Mets face four guys in this series that you would look and say “Wow, the Mets have a great chance to sweep”. This is not the case, as Dave Duncan has done wonders for the likes of Lohse, Todd Wellemeyer, and Joel Pineiro. Rookie Mitchell Boggs, who is also 3-0, will pitch the finale.
• Time To Play: In order to win 90 games this year, the Mets will need to go 50-31 over the last 81 games. With this roster, the talent is there and it can be done. It is a question of whether they will play up to their billing at the beginning of the year. A healthy Moises Alou would help too.

For a lineup, head to John Delcos’s blog for the Journal News.

As always, head to the The Hot Foot Bleachers to chat during the game.