For those reading this in real time, the game starts in 3 hours. Hooray for time zones.

The Mets are on the West Coast facing what could be the best rotation in the MLB so far. The West coast gave them some early troubles last year, and April proved to be a mighty beast for the Mets. John Maine will kick it off for the Mets, 2-2 3.58 ERA. The Mets have lost both games Maine started on the road, where his ERA so far is 5.40, mostly due to the four runs on eight hits in just four innings while in Atlanta. He’s lasted six full innings in three of his five starts, and while the pen has had a full day off, they got a bit of a work out in the last game, so a full six from Maine to start the series would be a big help. Maine faces off against Micah Owings, 4-0 3.48 ERA. Owings took a no decision in his sole appearance against the Mets, giving up 3 earned runs in six innings, while walking four and striking out five. Owings has been hot, winning four of his starts, all of which he went at least six innings. His last start was his sole blemish, getting caught for five runs off five hits in five innings against the Giants.

For those who missed the lineup courtesy of Peter:

• SS Reyes
• RF Church
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• LF Alou
• 1B Delgado
• C Casanova
• 2B Castillo
• P Maine

Alou is back, and ready to play for the first time this season. I missed you Moises. A great time for his return too, Alou is .337 career against the Diamondbacks including 16 homeruns, 10 doubles and a triple. He is 2 for 2 in the only game he faced Owings. Church goes back to the second spot, where he thrived previously. He’s hitting .400 on the road, and is .289 against Arizona. Like Alou, Beltran has also faired well against the Snakes, going .364 in 110 at bats. To date this season, he’s hitting just .211 with 13 RBIs. This game has quit the potential to be a breakout game for the team.

Game time is 9:40 pm, and for those of you both awake and sober, can be found on SNY and WFAN. As always, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to discuss the game, Mets baseball, and to bid a found farewell to retiree Julio Franco, the oldest man to be mentioned in a Hot Foot Pre Game Post.

Just a quick look around the NL East, to see how the other teams are faring on this Wednesday evening.

John Smoltz, the former Braves closer turned Braves starter, might be headed back to the bullpen, once his stint on the DL ends. The Braves have suffered some blows to their pen due to injury, but according to ESPN, manager Bobby Cox likes Smoltz where he is. Meanwhile, Mike Hampton is still out, and left his last AAA start early with soreness. Tommy Glavine is back, giving up 2 runs and getting a no decision in a Braves loss to the Nats.

In DC, Nats reliever Chad Cordero is headed to the DL. Cordero threw just 13 pitches against the Braves before a trainer came out to the mound and brought him in for good. Cordero has no saves yet this season. Cordero has been struggling with injuries all season, and was almost DLed after the series against the Mets, and is expected to now miss at least four weeks.

Ex Met Jeff Kent had an RBI single to help the Dodgers beat the Marlins in the ninth last night. The Marlins had rallied back from a 6-1 deficit before losing anyway.

Remember Jose Valentin?

According to Adam Rubin, Stache has been cleared to resume partaking in baseball related activities. According to his blog, he’ll be limited to long toss and hitting off a tee for now.

This actually surprises me. I kind of assumed Stache gave up and retired. We really haven’t heard that much from him, which is why I jumped to the conclusion. Last I recall, he was saying that he’d retire before spending a half season rehabbing, especially since even post rehab he might not be able to get a roster spot.

Carlos Delgado spoke earlier with reporters, and Adam Rubin’s blog has the transcript containing the questions and answers people actually care about. No real details necessary, aside from the topic de jour, Delgado touches on a few other issues including last years collapse and his feelings on the fans booing their own team.

A few snippets: Delgado on being booed by your own fans:

It doesn’t feel good, it’s not a good feeling when someone is booing you. It hasn’t happened (like this) anywhere else. But I haven’t had such a bad stretch anywhere else either. I’m not happy about it, but I understand. It’s to up to us to play better.

On if his reactions had anything to do with the way the fans had treated him earlier:

You’re asking me to react what other people do, in this case 45,000 people. I’m a smart man, but I’m not that smart.

Its a good interview, though Delgado does his best to avoid certain topics (such as the God Bless America debate from years past). Head over to the News and check it out.

Like it or not, right or wrong, Carlos Delgado’s decision to not come out for a curtain call is going to be news. We’ll hear about when Beltran reluctantly took one, at the urging of Julio Franco, because he too had received the Shea Boo Treatment.

For those who neither saw the game, watched the highlights, or read any of the blogs and/or mainstream media accounts of this afternoon, Carlos Delgado had two solo home runs, which turns even the most jaded boo birds into cheering, screaming fans. Add on that it was against long time enemies the Braves, and Delgado received something thats rare lately, a curtain call. A call he did not accept. He was smiling, laughing, celebrating with teammates. But he did not accept it.

Now Ron and Gary mentioned it on air. Ron, that as a player you should always take the curtain call, for the fans. Gary, how its understandable to not, after all, Shea Nation has been booing Delgado at every chance and turn as of late, large portions of last season, pregame, and quite possible on the street. Delgado is one of those guys who is effected more than others by that sort of treatment. Booing prolongs his slumps more than it motivates him to do better. Of course, there’s also the lesser known fact, Delgado doesn’t take curtain calls. Not now, or back when he was what we signed up for, a slugging first basemen. According to the AP , he’s done it only twice. Both times, where much more momentous then two solo shots.

Whether or not this is true (resident Hot Foot Obscure Statistician Sidd Finch is on assignment), can we truly blame Delgado for not taking it? Can we as fans continue to abuse a player on our own team, a player we know it gets to, and then turn around and demand he love us? As I’ve said before, you shouldn’t boo one of your own. Delgado has been booed almost nonstop for quite some time now, and while one well played game can often erase the doubts and hate of the fans, at least temporarily, one round of applause and cheers cannot undue the extra stress and burden the fans have put on Delgado. He had every right to stay put. As fans we cannot expect our team to provide their unconditional support of us, if we continue to boo them at every misstep. I’m not asking you to cheer Delgado’s pop outs, but merely to support him in both the good times and bad. Until then, don’t act surprised when he doesn’t want to embrace you back.

Carlos Delgado’s bat came alive, Peter Frampton style.

Delgado had two homeruns, his first multi HR game since last May, both solo shots. He finished 2 for 2 with 2 BB (one intentional) and the big post game talk will now surely be a mix of his rediscovered power and refusal to take a curtain call. Fellow slumper Castillo went 3 for 5 with a double. Reyes started the Mets half of the first with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice and took home on a wild pitch, as everyone got involved today. In more surprises, Casanova homered, part of a 3 for 4 day for him as well.

Mix in some stellar defense, with a great catch by Beltran and an amazing catch in the outfield by Church , one that involved him hitting the ground while remaining in possession of the ball, and Beltran sliding to avoid a collision. Figgy takes the win, giving up all 3 runs in the sixth after a strong first five innings. Show was show, the defense kept him in it. Feliciano added an inning of hitless relief, while Billy finally ended his hitless streak in the ninth.

The bats were alive, which considering the teams historic struggle against Smoltz, who’s been lights out in general this year, this could turn out to be a big game for them. Its too early I think to overreact, even if it does balance out all the overreacting we’ve done the other way. Smotlz’s previous decimal level ERA is now a solid 2. Hopefully the press won’t hound Carlos too much over his refusal to take a curtain call.

Perhaps the Mets should just buy a MRI machine at this point. According to John Delcos , Moises Alou is headed back to NY for a MRI after a CAT scan indicated a problem in the ankle he tweaked earlier this weekend. So hopefully Angel Pagan isn’t staying in a hotel, because he’s going to be here for awhile longer. Chances are we won’t be hearing any results till Tuesday.

Of the three injured Old Timers, I think chances are Pedro is the only one who’ll have a Met uniform on by the All Star Break. If as Delcos indicated, Alou does have a fracture, could we even rule out this being it? At some point if you fracture something playing in low A ball while recovering from hernia surgery, the light at the end of the baseball tunnel has to be getting close. We keep hearing that Alou’s return could be a catalyst, and its just a question of when, but sooner or later the return will not be questioned as a when but an if.

Its the rubber match, and you might want your heart and/or ulcer medication ready for this one, because the pitching might be a bit… mismatched.

On the side of good, Nelson Figueroa . The local done good continues his stay in Flushing, and is 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA in 3 starts (plus 2 relief appearances). Figgy was rocked a bit in his relief appearance against the Braves earlier in the season, on the hook for two earned runs in one inning. That being said, his ERA lowers to 3.50 when looking at him as a starter, and down to 2.77 at Shea. For the sake of our stress levels, we’ll ignore his day game ERA for the day. And because we haven’t heard booing lately at Shea, our number 5 man takes on Atlanta stalwart John Smotlz . Smoltz is off to a start that could be defined as good. With an ERA that starts with a 0, a mere six walks, 31 strikeouts, Smoltz looks to make life difficult today. He’s given up only 2 runs total this season, so both the Mets offense and pitching will need to bring their A++ game if this is going to be a contest.

The lineup:

• SS Reyes
• 2B Castillo
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• RF Church
• 1B Delgado
• C Casanova
• LF Endy
• P Figueroa

Delgado returns to the lineup after a days benching to help him clear his mind, hopefully its cleared it enough for him to relearn the art of hitting. Delgado is career .286 against Smoltz, which the way things have been for Carlos lately, would be acceptable. His spot on the bench is handed to Angel Pagan, who’s early fire has been extinguished. Pagan’s last multihit game came on the 18th against the Phils, hitting just .176 over the last ten games to lower his average to .289. Endy will start in left, which at the very least will provide some extra outfield defense should Figgy struggle today. At .298, Reyes has the highest average against Smoltz of Met starters. He’s drawn four walks off the future Hall of Famer, while striking out 12 times. As the man with the best results against Smoltz, he’s also been caught stealing 6 times with him on the mound.

Game time is 1:10, and can be heard locally on WFAN, and in the vast majority of New York State on the local CW affiliate. As always, join us over in the Hot Foot Bleachers , where we’ll be discussing the game, Mets baseball, and every possible rumor involving the NFL Draft and/or Jeremey Shockey. As always, Lets Go Mets.

Wayne Coffey of the Daily News sits down with former Met skipper and current Olympic Coach Davey Johnson . If we need to tell you who Davey Johnson is, its safe to assume you’re at this site by accident. The interview covers a range of topics, from his days playing with the O’s, the Olympics, and of course, the 80s Mets.

For those Boo Birds out there reading this, before you get any ideas, Davey does answer one of the big questions, is there MLB in his future:

No. After a tough time in Cincy , and a tough time in Baltimore after winning, and then going out to L.A., where they already made all the player moves before I was hired and having no minor-league system, I was burned out. I didn’t even have a good time in the dugout when we had a lead. Now I’m energized. I love what I’m doing. I get enough baseball to float my ship.

Head on over to the News and check it out.

Since my idea to add a pool of live sharks to the NFL Draft has been rejected, we took a look around the internet to see what some of our fellow bloggers are saying this weekend. And don’t forget, the Foot Father himself, Anthony, is live blogging the weekend over at the Giants Football Blog. Amongst other things he’ll be talking to the experts, fans, and providing the latest news as it happens.

Blastings Thrilledge provides his take on the Mets Bullpen. Its worth it for his motivational poster alone.

Honestly, is there a max number of times one can link to Fire Joe Morgan? Is it doubled when its a post that takes a shot at Wallace Matthews? Tripled?

If you were wondering, ‘Dan, when will you find a blog that combines both the Mets and the greatness of Led Zeppelin?” Well, thankfully, Toasty Joe covers that for us.

Over at Lone Star Mets, Dan in Texas is a bit angry. Something common amongst the blogs. Just as Trey. Coop. Even Jason at Faith and Fear is showing a bit of anger. And when you’ve tipped the balance from Faith to Fear, well then we’re all in trouble.

Hopefully todays win will help everyones nerves. At least for a day.

John Maine is experiencing some tightness in his right arm, the reason behind his early exit (that and a lot of pitches). According to the team its nothing serious. Via John Delcos:

“I could have gone out in the sixth and I wanted to, but it’s still April and there’s no reason to take a chance. I’m OK.”

Hopefully its just a little soreness for a busy day, and he’ll be good to go after some sleep and a Tylenol, or whatever major league baseball players take after throwing a lot of pitches. Especially with Pedro awhiles away and Duq a complete mystery, John Maine more than anything will be a key to make this rotation a success.

Adam Rubin is reporting that Brian Schneider’s overnight stay at the hospital will be extended to Sunday. He’ll continue to be treated with IV antibiotics in hopes to remove his finger infection through non surgical methods. IE drugs.

Regardless of what Willie and Omar claim, I’m sticking by my theory: Brian was assaulted by a rouge duck at the Washington Memorial. I think we need to find this duck before he attacks again.

The Mets return to Shea, and Hot Foots own MetsGal will be there live blogging. Wait…no. You’re stuck with me, and I won’t be live blogging.

Mike Pelfrey hit up CVS and is armed with an entire arsenal of mouth guards, as he looks to show the world he is a Met starting pitcher, and not just because everyone else is hurt. The Big Pelf is 2-0, 3.18 ERA. He’s 4.15 career in 3 starts against the Braves, and has not faced them yet this season. Pelf has dominated at home, with both his wins coming at Shea and pairing them with an ERA of 1.50 at Shea. The Braves will counter with Jair Jurrjens, who has the teams allotment of the letter J. The J Man is 2-2 with a 3.20 ERA, basically a pretty even match tonight. He’s never faced the Mets, and his 2 losses both came on the road

• SS Reyes
• 2B Castillo
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• RF Church
• LF Pagan
• 1B Anderson
• C Casanova
• P The Big Pelf

Carlos Delgado is dropped even further, all the way to the bench. The slumping first basemen will take the night off to rest up, and write in his diary. David Wright has 16 career home runs against the Braves pitching staff. Ryan Church is riding a ten game hitting streak, and is 3 for 8 against the Braves this season.

Game time is 7:10, catch it on SNY and WFAN. As always, visit us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to talk the game, Mets baseball, and your favorite flavor of mouth guards. Lets Go Mets!

After a hot start and base stealing frenzie, Carlos Gomez has cooled, and could be soon stealing bases for the AAA Rochester Red Wings.  Bad news for Gomez and Twins fans, good news for me, since they play a five minute drive away. Gomez was given a day off Wednesday, his first since the season began.

Slumping after a hot first week of the season, guess it just goes to show us that deep down, Gomez will always be a New York Met.