The Mets, weather permitting, look to take the rubber game of their three game set with the Cardinals this afternoon at Shea. Johan Santana will face off against Kyle Lohse. Gametime is slated for 1:10 EST and can be seen on CW11 (again, sorry Dan).

Keys to the Game:

• Gotta Bounce Back: The Mets dropped a tough 10-8 decision last night against the Cards, after coming back twice from three run deficits, only to lose the game. I know this team has showed some resilience before, but today is a huge game. It will help us go off on the right foot on our way to Florida to face the Fish.
• Don’t Blow A Johan Win: Whatever it might be, a Billy Wagner blown save, or a Duaner Sanchez implosion, we have cost Santana a few wins in the 9th inning. Johan is our ace, and we need to win most of his starts if we want October baseball in Flushing.

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

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

Fresh off their series win against the Phillies, the Mets welcome the Cardinals into town for a three game set over the weekend. The first game will feature Mike Pelfrey going against rookie Mitch Boggs. Gametime is slated for 7:10 EST and can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Don’t Let Up: The Mets now have a one game on the Phillies, and in order to stay there they will need to keep the pedal to the metal. We all know what happened last year if you take a team for granted, and the Phillies have already felt that this year, losing a 7.5 game lead. If we want to win this division, we are going to need to keep playing crisp, smart baseball.
• Keep it Going Pelf: Last Sunday, Pelfrey threw what can be considered his worst start in months. Pelfrey allowed five runs, on three home runs. His fastball wasn’t moving, and yet he still gutted it out and went seven strong innings, resting the bullpen. Pelfrey has doing alot of things right lately, keep it going.
• Need Relievers to Get Going: Relievers Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez haven’t pitched since Tuesday’s meltdown. Im guessing Jerry Manuel will try to work them into tonight’s game, as we will need both their arms going down the stretch if we want to be successful.
• Beat Up Boggs: Last time we faced the rookie Boggs, we hit him for 10 runs. If we can get that kind of production tonight, we should be in good shape.

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

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

The Mets look to rebound from a tough loss last night tonight versus the Phillies at Shea. John Maine will look to right the ship versus Brett Myers. Gametime is scheduled for 7:10 EST and can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN. Also, for you out of towners, the game can be seen on ESPN.

Game Notes:

• Need a Big Game Tonight, Johnny: I’d rather not be the ones with our backs against the wall tomorrow with the always unpredictable Oliver Perez on the mound. Let’s take this game tonight and beat up on Myers who served up 24 longballs before being demoted to the minors in early July.
• Delgado Cleaning Up?: Jerry Manuel flipped Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran in the batting order. With Delgado swinging the stick like he is, I can’t really fault him.

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

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

LETS GO METS.

The Mets travel home to play a crucial three game set against the Phillies tonight at Shea Stadium. Gametime is slated for 7:10 EST and can be seen on SNY. Johan Santana will make his third start versus the Phillies this year, and will be opposed by the Phillies newest player, Joe Blanton.

Keys to the Game:

• More of the same from Johan: Santana has pitched very well against the Phillies so far this year,  with seven and eight inning performances under his belt. Both of these games were at the bandbox in Philly, so Johan can only benefit from pitcher friendly Shea.

• What if Billy Can’t Go?: If Billy Wagner can’t go, i’d imagine Jerry Manuel would go to Duaner Sanchez, who has been close to untouchable since Manuel took the reigns of the team. Sanchez’s only real blip over the last month was against the Phillies, when he gave up the game winning hit to Shane Victorino July 4th. Sanchez’s changeup had great downward movement on Sunday and if he were to close that’d be the stuff he would need to bring to the table.

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

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

The Mets look for the split today versus the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark starting at 1:10 EST. Mike Pelfrey will toe the rubber opposite Edinson Volquez for the Reds. The game can be seen on the CW11 (sorry Dan) and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• More Timely Hitting: Over the Mets 10 game win streak, they came up with all the big hits, most of them with two outs. Last night, the Mets had runners in scoring position in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings with LESS than two outs, and still could not get anybody in. You can’t win by playing that way. Sparkplug Argenis Reyes is in the lineup again today batting 2nd, and could give us a jolt at the top of the lineup with the other Reyes struggling.
• More of the Same from Pelf: Pelfrey has been outstanding of late. Over his last eight starts he is 6-0 with an ERA under 2.5. That’s ace like. Pelfrey is facing the tough task of facing the other team’s ace today, in Volquez. He will once again need to bring his A game for the Mets to have a shot to win today

For a chat, head to The Hot Foot Bleachers.

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

After having their 10 game win streak snapped last night, the Mets look to start fresh tonight against the Reds. Oliver Perez will face Josh Fogg. The game can be seen on SNY starting at 7:40 EST and can be heard on WFAN.

Key to the Game:

• More of the Real Ollie: Perez has a .90 ERA in his last 3 starts. He has been nothing less than stellar since Dan Wharthen changed his pitching motion around a bit. Tonight, he faces a Reds lineup than is truly 7 men deep, and maybe all but our old friend Jeff Keppinger can take you deep if you make a mistake. Perez will need to work the corners and hit his spots if he wants to pitch effectively in this bandbox.

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

For a chat during the game, head to The Hot Foot Bleachers

The Mets face off against the Red Menace once again tonight, in hopes to take this streak to 11. Just like my speakers. John Maine will face Bronson Arroyo, for a full list of lineups, hit up John Delcos’ Blog over at the Journal News .

Your Hot Foot keys to the game:

John Maine remembers he’s The Man: After a strong kick off this season, Maine seemed to run out of gas by the All Star break. Barely making it through five lately, he hasn’t had a victory in awhile. The Reds might not be the best team for this job, since in his two starts against them he has a 10 ERA. His ERA for the month so far is 5.33, over a point more than his ERA for the season.

Keep the offense train rolling: they’ve been fighting back, regaining leads, coming from behind, sweeping the leg. They’ve refound the long ball and put together some nice little rallys. Just like it says they can on paper. Remember Mets, you’re facing Bronson Arroyo tonight, and his 5.97 ERA. As long as you don’t let him perform any of his musical talents, you should be good.

Game time is 7:10, and as always can be found on SNY and WFAN. Feel free to join us here in the Hot Foot Bleachers, where we’ll be discussing the game, Mets baseball, and the Mets longest winning streak since 1991.

The Mets kick off the second half against the Reds with a four game set at Great American Ballpark. The game is slated to start at 7:10 EST and can be seen on SNY. The game will feature an ace and an up and coming fireballer. Johan Santana will toe the rubber opposite Johnny Cueto.

Key to the Game:

• Keep the Streak Alive: The Mets finished the 1st half on a nine game winning streak, and most wins were in dominant fashion. The Mets have to keep it going against a second tier Reds ballclub. Although they have some good hitters, they can be pitched to i.e Adam Dunn. The Reds squad also has poor pitching, with the exception of right hander Edinson Volquez. Cueto, Josh Fogg, and Bronson Arroyo all have an ERA above 4.5 and can be hit hard. Santana will have to take advantage of this young Reds lineup that is for the most part a bunch of free swingers.

For a lineup, head to Matthew Cerrone’s Metsblog.

For a chat, head to The Hot Foot Bleachers.

The road trip continues, as the Mets start a stretch in Philly against oddly enough, the Phillies. Johan Santana will take the mound, against JA Happ . Happ is making his first start of the season and second career against the Mets.

Lineups can be found at John Delcos LoHud Blog .

Keys to the game:

Keep on Hitting: The Mets offense found its spark on the road in St Louis, can it maintain it in the hitter friendly confines of Tiny Little Philly Park? One would hope so, since a double anywhere else lands in the parking lot here.

Remember that its their Ace. Johan hasn’t won a game in awhile. We did trade away the farm and all, so maybe we can give him some run support, maybe a nice day from the bullpen. Try not to commit too many errors and all. And by some run support, I mean a lot. Lets face it, he gives up the longball and he’s in a longball stadium. Win it for Johan.

Game time is 7:05, catch it on SNY, listen to it on WFAN, and talk about it in the Hot Foot Bleachers, where we’ll be discussing the game, Mets baseball, and fireworks safety on the internet.