The Mets defeated the Braves by a score of 7-3 this evening at Shea Stadium. Aaron Heilman got the win for the Mets, and Jeff Bennett took the loss for the Braves.

Oliver Perez had his worst stuff in quite awhile tonight, but battled, and kept the team in the game. Ollie threw 6.1 innings of three run ball, but walked four, something he has not done in well over a month.

The Mets got the scoring going in the 1st, on a David Wright sac fly and a Fernando Tatis RBI Double.

In the 7th, Luis Ayala came in and cleaned up the mess Perez left for him. He got Omar Infante and Brian McCann to fly out, leaving a man stranded on 3rd.

Heilman threw a scoreless 8th, and gave the Mets the opportunity to get back in the ballgame.

After two walks and an infield single, Carlos Delgado drove a two run double to the wall, driving in Endy Chavez and David Wright. Damion Easley added a two run single to give the Mets some extra breathing room.

Scott Schoeneweis pitched the 9th to close it out.

What a win, these are the kind of games the Mets are going to have to win if they want to be playing in October.

The Mets and Braves are at it again tomorrow. Jair Jurrjens will oppose Mike Pelfrey.

The Mets begin a three game set versus the 4th place Braves tonight starting at 7:10 EST. Oliver Perez will be opposed by Jo-Jo Reyes. The game can be seen on SNY and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Beat up Jo-Jo: Reyes is 0-5 with an ERA over 8 in his last five starts in the big leagues. He tends to be wild and we need to jump on him early before he is able to settle into a nice little rhythm.
• Welcome Back Jose: Jose Reyes makes his return after a day on the bench yesterday. As we saw, the Mets go as Jose goes.

Lineup:

• SS Jose Reyes
• LF Nick Evans
• 3B David Wright
• CF Carlos Beltran
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• RF Fernando Tatis
• 2B Damion Easley
• C Ramon Castro
• P Oliver Perez

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

ESPN is reporting that the Dodgers have acquired RHP Greg Maddux from the Padres for a player to be named later. Maddux has a 3.99 ERA on the year, but a far worse 5.75 ERA away from his former home, Petco Park.

Dodgers are building a nice team for the stretch run, hopefully they don’t make the playoffs.

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.

The Mets look for the sweep over the Nationals tonight starting at 7:10 EST. Oliver Perez will toe the rubber opposite of rookie Colin Balester. The game can be seen on SNY and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Get the Rook Early: The rookie Balester is only 2-4 through his rookie season thus far, showing that he can be hit. The offense was clicking on all cylinders last night, and we need another big victory heading into the four game set against the Bucs.
• Keep on Going Murph: Daniel Murphy was 3-6 with a homer and 3 RBI last night. Murphy is still hitting well over .450 through his first two weeks in the bigs, and is reminding me a little bit of Kevin Youkilis, in the sense that he is a patient hitter who goes the other way well.

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 look to build on last night’s win tonight against the Nats at Nationals Park. John Maine will make his return to the hill after a few weeks on ths sidelines, and will be opposed by right hander Jason Bergmann. Gametime is slated for 7:10 EST and can be seen on SNY.

Keys to the Game:

• Need A Strong Return By John: Maine needs to be on top of his game tonight against a weak Nationals lineup. Maine looked like he was getting tired before going on the disabled list with an injury, so maybe this rest was a blessing in disguise and will be able to keep him fresh for September.
• More Of the Same From the ‘Pen: Before last night’s game, reliever Scott Schoeneweis held a meeting for all relievers. It was a meeting to let out some stuff internally, and to try and get this bullpen going in the right direction. Well, maybe it worked. Pedro Felciiano and Joe Smith each worked a scoreless inning, and the bullpen finally saved the game for Johan.

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.