The Mets go for the four game sweep of the Pirates this afternoon starting at 12:35 EST. John Maine will look for his second straight win, and will be opposed by lefty Paul Maholm. The game can be seen on SNY and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Another Good One By Maine: Maine came off the DL Wednesday to throw five shutout innings against the Nationals, allowing just one hit and striking out seven. Maine should be able to pick through through this weak Pirates offense and deliver another great outing today.
• No Jose Jose Jose: Jose Reyes gets the day off today, with Damion Easley sliding over to play SS today. The Mets lose a lot at the top of the lineup without Reyes, but with the team playing well and Argenis Reyes playing better on the roadtrip, they should be able to pickup the slack without Reyes.

For a lineup, head to Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.

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

Six straight! The Mets defeated the Pirates by a score of 4-0 this afternoon in Pittsburgh. Johan Santana got the win, his 11th. Jeff Karstens took the loss for the Bucs. With the win, the Mets are now 2.5 games ahead of the Phillies and 4.5 ahead of the Marlins in the NL East.

Santana was in total control, as he threw a complete game shutout. He struck out seven Pirate batters and limited them to three hits.

Most of the offense was courtesy of Brian Schneider today. Schneider had 3 RBI, including a two run shot, his second on the roadtrip. He also had an RBI single to drive in Carlos Beltran.

Speaking of Beltran, after just missing a homer in his second at bat, Beltran crushed a Karstens pitch over the wall in rightfield for his 17th homer of the year.

After the game, while being interviewed by SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, Santana got high fives from all the RPs, started by Scott Schoeneweis. It’s nice to see this team gelling together and uniting at the right time.

The Mets go for the sweep tomorrow with John Maine on the mound. He will be opposed by Paul Maholm.

The Mets look for their sixth straight win today against the Pirates, starting at 1:35 EST. Johan Santana will look for his 11th win, and will toe the rubber opposite Jeff Karstens, who has a sparkling 1.23 ERA since being traded from the Yankees to the Bucs in the Xavier Nady deal. The game can be seen on the CW11 and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Wright Sits: With the team streaking, and playing a second division ballclub, Jerry Manuel has decided to give David Wright a much deserved day off. Interestingly, he has not moved anyone around in the batting order to accommodate Wright’s loss. Damion Easley will play third, and slot into the third position in the order.
• Johan the Magnificent: Santana has been stellar this year, but does not have the W’s to show for it. With the main cogs in the Mets bullpen starting to come together as one group, and throwing the ball better as a whole, Santana should be getting more wins for his efforts over the course of the next six weeks.

For a lineup, head to Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.

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

The Mets defeated the Pirates by a score of 7-4 this evening at PNC Park. Pedro Martinez got the win, and Zach Duke took the loss. Pedro Feliciano closed it out for the save.

Martinez was great again. He allowed one run on eight hits, while striking out four. This was the 3rd straight start where Martinez allowed two runs or less.

The Mets got off to an early start again, as Jose Reyes lead off the game with his 13th homer of the year. Carlos Beltran added an RBI double in the 1st, and Fernando Tatis chipped in with an RBI single.

Ramon Castro crushed his seventh homer of the year, a two run shot, into the the left center bleachers to put the game out of reach at 6-0.

Rookie Eddie Kunz was brought in to pitch the 9th, but pitched terribly. He allowed three runs in a third of an inning. Clearly, I was wrong, and Kunz is not ready to be this team’s closer.

The Mets look for their sixth straight win tomorrow with Johan Santana facing Jeff Karstens.

The Mets face the Pirates in game two of their four game weekend set tonight starting at 7:05 EST. Pedro Martinez will look to build on his last start, and will be opposed by lefty Zach Duke, who is 4-10 on the year. The game can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Get On Top Early: The Mets have scored in the first inning in four of their last five games, and are 4-1 during that stretch. When a team goes on top early on a team out of the race, most of the time those teams will sail into the sunset, unless you hand them the game of course. The Pirates are a second division team, and we should be able to beat these guys.
• Pedro Turning It Around?: Martinez has gone six innings in his last two starts, allowing two runs and one run during the two starts. He will face the Pirates, who just five days ago held to one run in six innings. I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable with Pedro on the mound.

For a lineup, head to Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.

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

Over at his blog for the Daily News, Adam Rubin is reporting that Billy Wagner may not return on Monday, as previously reported. After throwing in Binghamton on Thursday, his elbow stiffened on Friday. Wagner believes that if he were to return he would not be able to throw on back to back days.

Ouch, tough news to swallow with the team going so well. I know the pen has been “better” of late, but we need Wagner. End of Story.

Update 5:51

Rubin is now reporting that Wagner has been sent back to NY and will not be activated on Monday

Ugh.

The Mets defeated the Pirates by a score of 2-1 this evening at PNC Park. Mike Pelfrey got his 11th win of the year, and Jason Davis took the loss in hard luck. Aaron Heilman closed it out for his 3rd save of the year.

Seems like Pelfrey dominates all but the Marlins, as he went seven scoreless innings tonight. He was bailed out by Carlos Beltran, who threw out Adam LaRoche at the plate in the 7th.

The Mets offense was unheard of after the 1st inning. In the 1st, they got the first four men on, scoring two runs. Jose and Argenis Reyes singled, then David Wright drove one the other way for an RBI single, scoring JReyes. AReyes later scored on a wild pitch.

The Mets bullpen held the lead, although Duaner Sanchez allowed a solo homer to SS Jack Wilson. Pedro Feliciano bailed him out to get the final two outs of the game.

Heilman came on to close it out, and was bailed out by AReyes on a great driving play, where from his knees he threw out 3B Andy LaRoche.

The Mets look for their fifth straight win tomorrow. It will be a matchup of last Monday. Pedro Martinez will face Zach Duke.

The Mets travel to Pittsburgh to try to build on their sweep of the Nationals tonight starting at 7:05. Mike Pelfrey will try to rebound after a tough start, and will be opposed by Jason Davis, who will be making his second start of the year.

Key to the Game:

• More of the Same From the Pen: The Mets pen was spotless in the series versus the Nats, going 8.1 scoreless innings. The Mets need to keep this streak going, as a reliable bullpen is the key to winning the close games.

Lineup:

• SS Jose Reyes
• 2B Argenis Reyes
• 3B David Wright
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• CF Carlos Beltran
• LF Daniel Murphy
• RF Fernando Tatis
• C Brian Schneider
• P Mike Pelfrey

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

Break out the brooms! The Mets finished the sweep of the Nationals tonight by a score of 9-3. Oliver Perez pitched another good game, to get the victory. Colin Balester took the loss for the Nats.

Perez was in control all night, until he ran into some trouble in the 7th. He went 6.2 innings, allowing three runs. The big blow came on a Pete Orr two run double.

Brian Schneider hit his first homer since May 14th, exactly three months ago, a two run shot. Carlos Delgado added a solo shot the other way. Damion Easley chipped in with a two run single.

The bullpen was solid again, as it went 2.1 scoreless. Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith, and Aaron Heilman all contributed.

The Mets look to build on their sweep tomorrow against the Pirates, starting at 7:05 EST. Mike Pelfrey will start for the Mets.