The Mets look to put a W in the game results column once again, in what could cause what some would refer to as ‘a streak.’ Lineups can be found at Metsblog , via our good friend Mike Nichols. Keys to success tonight:

• John Maine learns to beat the Dodgers. Johnny has been good this year, but over his brief career he’s struggled against the former Brooklyn kids. He’s 1-3 against LA, though with a respectable 3.7 ERA. Maine has lost back to back starts, however he did well last he saw them, allowing one run and four hits in 8 and one third inning. Do it again Johnnie.
• More David Wright homeruns. They seem to cure all ills. And maybe he can teach that homerun swing to Delgado.
• The regulars stepping it up. Reyes hits .303 against LA. Castillo .317. We can’t just hope the subs keep their hitting, and with Schneider out again, the lineup has three subs in it.
• The team finally learning to hit rookies.

Game time is 7:10, SNY and WFAN, as always. And visit us at the Hot Foot Bleachers , to discuss the game, Mets baseball, and the legend of Jose Valentin.

The Mets continue to struggle as they dropped a game to the Marlins 3 to 7. Mike Pelfrey gave up six runs, and all six came with two outs. He once again got pulled early, leaving after four innings. Pelf wasn’t helped by Jose Reyes, whose error led to the first two runs being scored. Pelf has not won a game since April 15th. Aaron Heilman did well, giving up one hit while striking out three over two innings. Jose Feliciano and Joe Smith each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, Matt Wise gave up the final run in the eight.

The Mets offense did what they’re best at, stranding runners. After a leadoff home run by Reyes, they loaded the bases then scored just one more run. Reyes added another solo homerun in the second. The top of the order was responsible for eight of the nine hits, all four going 2 for 2. Luis Castillo added a stolen base, but no one could move him any closer. The Mets were unable to get a hit in the last four innings, which again points to one of the big problems going on.

After a lot of talk from the players on how they’re the ones who have to play better, they continued to not hit, not field, and not pitch. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step, so good for them on getting that out of the way. Now lets move on to the second step, which hopefully involves hitting the baseball a little more often.

John Maine (5–3) takes the ball against Aaron Cook (5–3). The Mets look to take this series after losing five straight to the Braves and Rockies.

Keys to the game:

• Production from the top of the order. The Mets have a lineup today that includes Brian Schneider batting 6^th, Nick Evans batting 7^th and Endy Chavez batting 8^th. Carlos Delgado, batting 5^th, has homered in three straight games but only has four hits in his last six games. The Mets can’t expect to get another three 2Bs from Evans or anymore HRs from Delgado. That is a potentially very weak back half of the order and they need the front four, primarily David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran to swing the lumber early.
• Maine to get back on track. Alongside Johan Santana, Maine has been the most reliable Mets SP this season. Other than his first start of the season and his most recent start, Maine has allowed only two or less runs in those eight starts. Through ten starts this season, he has a 3.29 ERA. If he bounces back from his last start the Mets should be in good shape.

For complete lineups, head over to Adam Rubin’s blog Surfing the Mets.

As always, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers for in-game chatter with your fellow Mets fans.

Alright gentlemen, a win last night is nice but it doesn’t mean much if we don’t build on it. It would be nice to win a series heading into the home stand, we need to starting stringing together a few series wins. Lets Go Mets.

Claudio Vargas (0–2) looks to stop the bleeding as he takes the mound against Jeff Francis (1–4).  After getting swept by the Braves and a loss last night in extra innings, the Mets have lost five in a row. 

Keys to the game:

• Focus.  In the 10th last night, Jose Reyes was quick and determined enough to leg out a 2B on a hit to center, catching the OF sleeping and playing too deep.  However, Reyes fell asleep at 2^nd and was picked off by Brian Fuentes.  Being picked off 2^nd, with 0 outs (meaning he would have no reason to steal 3^rd) is bad, but by a lefty? You can’t  blow opportunities like that in extra innings and expect to win the game.  Then, in the bottom of the 10th David Wright made a foolish error, trying to charge a Yorvit Torrealba groundball and make the play on a short hop.  Wright has to know that it is the catcher running and he has time to get the out.  And yes, Oliver Perez seemed a bit unfocused when he walked eight guys last night.   
• Relaxation.  The reason Wright made a play like that is that he seems so tightly wound out there.  No individual is going to win the game for them.  As a team, they need to calm down.  Reyes struck out looking to end the top of the 12th and exploded on the umpire.  Unfortunately, the ball appeared to be a strike, sorry Jose.
• Quality Start.  People say the qualifications for a quality start are rather lame, because a pitcher who gives up three runs in six innings has a 4.50 ERA, by no means quality.  Yet, that misses the point.  The point of a quality start is that if you’ve pitched six or more innings and given up three or less runs you have kept your team in the game.  If Vargas goes out there and gives up three runs in six innings, he is giving the Mets’ offense a chance to win it, against Jeff Francis who bears a 5.87 ERA thus far. 
• Swing the lumber. I just get so angry when they strike out looking, not even giving themselves a chance to get a hit.  The reason we’re losing is this passive, lackadaisical approach.  Francis has given up 64 hits in 53 2/3 innings this year.  In other words, he’ll be doing his best to feed meat balls, we just have to be ready to pound them.

As always, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers for a live chat with your fellow Mets fans.  For today’s lineup, head over to the Surfing the Mets, where NY Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin always keeps us informed.  Notable lineup information includes Nick Evans is making his MLB debut for the Mets, batting 8^th playing LF.  Also, unfortunately our team has come to the point where Fernando Tatis is batting 5^th. 

Lastly, Al Pacino has some words for the Mets, that couldn’t apply more, “We heal as a team, or we’re gonna crumble. Inch-by-inch, play-by-play, until we’re finished.”         
 

The Mets are in Colorado, and apparently so is Omar. Perhaps big things are afoot, or perhaps we’ll just see more of the same.

Keys To The Game :

• Oliver Perez is taking the mound, so chances are it could be both. His season 4-3, 4.25 ERA bears some resemblance to his career stats against the Rockies, at 4-4 with a 5.04. The Mets have never done well out there, and I’m not expecting much from Ollie. I’d love to see the good Ollie, but after a disappointing East Coast series, chances are Ollie just brings his C game.
• The Rockies are not faring much better as of late, and send Greg Reynolds to the mound. Reynolds has just two career starts, less than 12 innings total, and a 3.09 ERA. The Mets love making rookie pitchers look good, and the long trip out west with no day off is unlikely to help. Reynolds did well against the Twins, a repeat performance will spell trouble for those of us watching back East.
• Ryan Church will continue to sit following his concussion. Keep an eye on David Wright , who does well at the Rocky Mountain High, hitting .381 in 22 games against the Rockies. Reyes as well, .324 against them. They’ll need some help though, since both Beltran and Delgado tend to struggle against them. With both teams entering the night struggling, if Reyes and Wright can jump start the offense perhaps we can at least get a high scoring affair on both sides. This will be a key for success tonight, because it just has the feel of a bad night for Mets pitching.

John Delcos has the line up on his blog for the Journal News. Game time is 9:05, catch it on SNY and WFAN, or watch it in blurry vision at the bar. For the stay at home types, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers , to discuss the game, Mets baseball, and why Paul Lukas should stick to writing about clothes and not real sports.

Johan Santana (5-2) toes the rubber for the Mets in an effort to halt a three game losing skid and potential four game sweep against division rivals the Atlanta Braves. For the Braves, Tim Hudson stands on the hill to try and bring the brooms out against the Mets.

Keys to the game:

• Get a quick feel on Hudson. In his last start, Hudson walked five guys and gave up two HRs. Yet, in nine starts this season, he has only walked 15 batters. When Hudson is living in the strike zone, he seems as if he can just toy with hitters and catch them off balance. Assuming he has regained control from his last start, we need to be aggressive come out fighting. First time through the order, feel free to be a little patient to feel him out, but if he has his control, there can be no leaving the bat on the shoulder. With an 0-1 count this year, opposing batters are hitting .206 against Hudson, and a mere .174 with an 0-2 count.
• Seven strong from Johan. We all saw what a long start can do this weekend, when Johan tossed 7 2/3 against the Yankees. Mike Pelfrey pitched only four innings last night, on Tuesday afternoon John Maine only pitched four innings, and on Tuesday night Claudio Vargas only threw five innings. The Mets desperately need some stability tonight from Johan, and the bullpen desperately needs a break.
• Production from the back half of the order. It’s not like the core of the lineup has been phenomenal, but I feel as if (especially when Ryan Church is out) when it gets past Beltran in the order, the our next two offensive half innings to to waste, and our next legitimate chance to score again is when the top of the order is up again. Carlos Delgado is back in the 5-hole tonight, and its time he protects Carlos Beltran, and makes pitchers throw some decent pitches to him.

As always, for an in-game chat head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers. For the full lineup head over to the LoHud Metsblog, where John Delcos always keeps us in the loop.

And lastly, I have one message to the Mets tonight:

The Mets struggled in all aspects of playing baseball, resulting in a bad loss to Atlanta. Pelf had some control issues, and gave up three runs in the third and fifth innings, though the first trio were helped in by Castillo’s questionable glove work. The bullpen threw gas into the fire and let in last five runs. Feleciano, Show and Joe Smith all gave up runs, while Billy Wagner gave up just hits before finally recording the last Brave out.

The offense scored just one run over the first six innings, and the little they did after that only made the loss a bit less lopsided. Reyes, Wright and Beltran were each 2 for 4, and the entire rest of the roster had one hit. Endy Chavez made his first error in…forever for the most part.  And to mix it up, the Mets added injury to insult this time, Moises Alou left the game with ‘cramps’ and most likely has a calf injury.

The way things are going, I assume someone will start writing “Even a Worse Team Money Could Buy” by the All Star Break. The only good thing to say about last nights game is that its over.

The Mets look to find the offense they lost in the double header at Turner Field yesterday, as they continue to play the Braves.

Mike Pelfrey takes the mound. Big Pelf had one of his best starts ever last time out, but the continuously missing Mets offense wasted it. He gave up just a single run while lasting 7 and a third, all while pitching sans magic mouth piece. Pelf has faced the Braves 4 times in his career, three of them starts, and got picked for nine hits and five earned runs in the most recent of them. He’ll face off against Jair Jurrjens, 4-3 2.82. Jurrjens faced the Mets once, walking four yet giving up only two hits. Those two hits however were enough to score three runs. He’s 3-0 in four starts at Turner Field.

Lineup, courtesy of John Delcos of LoHud:

• SS Reyes
• RF Chavez
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• LF Alou
• 1B Delgado
• C Schneider
• 2B Castillo
• P Big Pelf

Ryan Church takes a seat after suffering his second concussion of the year. Church took one to the head trying to break up a double play, resulting in his injury. Endy takes his place in right. Having seen limited playing time this season, Endy is hitting just .170 and has just one hit for the month of May.

Assuming there are no high alerts, severe storm warnings, or the like, game time is 7:10 and can be found on SNY and WFAN. As always, head on by the Hot Foot Bleachers to discuss the game, Mets baseball, and your fond memories of Mike Piazza, Met catcher and future Hall of Famer.

Regardless of the current weather, it seems the Mets (21-19) will attempt to get tonight’s game in. They will take on the Yankees (20-23) in the final game of the series (no make up date has been announced for Friday’s rain out). The Mets will send Oliver Perez (3-3, 4.61) to the mound to face off against Chien-Ming Wang (6-1, 2.90).

Lineups courtesy of David Lennon at his blog for Newsday :

Mets:

• SS Jose Reyes
• LF Marlon Anderson
• 3B David Wright
• CF Carlos Beltran
• RF Ryan Church
• DH Moises Alou
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• C Brian Schneider
• 2B Luis Castillo

Yankees:

• LF Johnny Damon
• RF Bobby Abreu
• SS Derek Jeter
• DH Hideki Matsui
• 1B Jason Giambi
• 2B Robinson Cano
• CF Melky Cabrera
• 3B Alberto Gonzalez
• C Jose Molina

For those of you in Manhattan, in case you haven’t noticed, the Empire State Building has been lit up for the past two nights with Mets orange and blue on the east and west sides and Yankees blue and white. While I am not sure how Friday’s rain out will affect this, the plan is that the team who wins the series will have the whole building lit up in their colors. This means that if the Mets win tonight, they will have won the series and the Empire State Building will gleam orange and blue. However, should the Mets lose, the colors will either stay as they are tomorrow or be removed completely.

Tonights game is slated for a 8:05pm start and can be seen on ESPN and heard on WFAN. As always, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to discuss how thankful we are that Beaton has lucky tube socks rather than a golden thong and to mercilessly make fun of Joe Morgan and Jon Miller.

The Mets kick off their rain shortened two game set against the Yankees at the Stadium today, starting at 1:05 EST. The scheduled pitchers are Johan Santana for the Mets, and Andy Pettitte for the Yanks. Santana is unbeaten since April 12, and is sporting a 4-0 record since.

Lineup:

• SS jose Reyes
• RF Ryan Church
• 3B David Wright
• CF Carlos Beltran
• LF Moises Alou
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• DH Damion Easley
• C Brian Schneider
• 2B Luis Castillo

Easley in there as the DH today…

As always, head on over to The Hot Foot Bleachers to talk Mets Baseball and why Andrew Beaton’s tube socks could be end of our problems.

Tonight’s game at Yankee Stadium has been rained out, no word yet on a make up date. It seems unlikely we’ll see a double header this weekend though, based on the current schedule.

If you’re a big fan of the subway series, you’re in for a treat. If you hate it…well, I hope you have something else to do this weekend. Mets. Yankees. Yankee Stadium. One last time before they blow the place up.

Assuming its nice enough to play about an hour ago, Johan Santana takes the mound. Santana is 4-2, 3.10 ERA. He’s 3-0, 2.66 against the Yankees, but all those starts come as a Twin, and entering the series he has the best Interleague Play ERA. The Mets have won the last five Santana starts. He faces off against Darrell Rasner , 2-0 3.00 ERA. The Mets broke him in his sole appearance against them, during which he gave up two runs prior to leaving with an injury, no outs recorded. Rasner will most likely honor Lino Urdaneta by making at least one out this evening.

Lineups, courtesy of Mr John Delcos

• SS Reyes
• DH Anderson
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• RF Church
• LF Alou
• 1B Delgado
• C Schneider
• 2B Castillo
• P Santana

The mighty Johan gets to give his bat a rest, and Marlon Anderson will take the role as DH this evening. The once and future king of pinch hitting is .386 career against the Bombers, including 8 doubles and 3 HRs. David Wright is slacking behind him, with a mere .323 and 15 RBIs. The hittingest man in Interleague play is Arod , and he is still out on the DL. Unfortantely, #2 on the list is Derek Jeter , who’s hitting .381 against the Mets. In his sole at bat against Rasner, Jose Reyes singled and was promptly caught stealing. Ryan Church has never faced the Yankees.

Weather permitting, game time is 7:10 and can be caught pretty much on any channel that shows baseball. The game will be on SNY and YES in most markets, though can be found in parts of NY on the CW. Listen to it on the radio at WFAN 660AM. And come argue about all sorts of stuff with your fellow fans, and maybe even the enemy over at the Hot Foot Bleachers .

The Mets (20-18) are looking to split this four game series with the last place Nationals (17-24) today at Shea. Game time is 1:10pm and can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN. Mike Pelfrey (2-3, 4.86) will toe the mound against Jason Bergmann (0-1, 11.68).

Lineups courtesy of David Lennon in his blog for Newsday:

• Jose Reyes (SS)
• Luis Castillo (2B)
• David Wright (3B)
• Carlos Beltran (CF)
• Ryan Church (RF)
• Carlos Delgado (1B)
• Ramon Castro (C)
• Marlon Anderson (LF)
• Mike Pelfrey (SHP)

Castillo will not be going on the DL as he is in the line up. As always, head into the Hot Foot Bleachers to discuss today’s game. Just tell your boss you are researching the latest Eurostats.

Shout out to Hot Foot writer Gary Grund for alerting me about Castillo’s return to the line-up.

Can the Mets put the Nats away again, and is it lucky to hit the first batter with a pitch? Lets find out shall we.

It’ll be interesting tonight one way or the other, as the Mets welcome up Claudio Vargas from the minor leagues to pitch. The Saturday doubleheader put them one shy, and Vargas gets the nod from New Orleans. He’s 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in AAA, and comes to NY via the Brewers. He’s started twice against the Nats, getting two no decisions and a 3.75 ERA. To the best of our knowledge, he is of no relation to famed WWII pin up artist Alberto Vargas. He faces Tim Redding , 4-3, 3.83. He’s 4.22 career against the Mets, taking a loss last time he played them, when he gave up three earned runs on five hits in five innings. He lost his last start against the Marlins, but has yet to lose two consecutive decisions this year.

Lineups, courtesy of Metsblog:

• SS Reyes
• RF Church
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• LF Alou
• 1B Delgado
• C Schneider
• 2B Easley
• P Vargas

Ryan Church continues to eat the Nats for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes brunch. He’s got four RBIs this series, hitting .367 for the season against them, and has three doubles to go with his two home runs. What Ryan, no triples? Castillo sits again with his quad issues, don’t be surprised if he hits the DL tomorrow when a move with Vargas on the roster is made. But act surprised, he’s really sensitive. Jose Reyes is 4 for 11 with a triple against Redding. See that Ryan, a triple.

Game time is 7:10, as always catch it on SNY and WFAN. Or stop on by the Hot Foot Bleachers, to talk the game, Mets baseball, and dance lessons with Jose Reyes.