The Nats come to Shea tonight. The question will be, can the Carloses stay hot?

Nelson Figueroa , the once and future Hometown Hero, takes the mound. Figgy is 2-2, 4.81 ERA. Pretty good for a guy who almost had to play in Mexico. He’s coming off his worst start of the season, a five inning, five run, eight hit affair that resulted in a loss by just one out in LA. However, Figgy is an Brooklyn boy, and he’s back at Shea tonight, where he’s 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA. Add in his 2.76 career ERA against the Nats, and maybe we got ourselves a nice little ball game. Thats right, getting Figgy with it.

He’ll face Odalis Perez, who is still hunting for his first win of the season. Perez is 0-3, but only has a 3.43 ERA, and has served up 34 strikeouts. He’s given 55 of them to the Mets over his 17 career appearances against the team, during which he had a 3.93 ERA. He took a loss last time he met the Mets, in the 6-0 blowout, of which he gave up 2 runs and walked 4. While he does have five no decisions, the Nats won three of them.

Lineups courtesy of Mets Blog:

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

In hopes to be more like Arod, Luis Castillo is out with a quad injury. There is no word on if he will get the DL hook, though its safe to say if he does they might wait until Wednesday when they need to call upon a pitcher to do so.

With Luis out, Ryan Church comes back to the sacred second in the batting order spot, and Damion Easley joins the lineup, batting seventh. Church by the way, leads the team in average (.321), HRs (7), runs (28), and bad jokes in blogs about churches (308). He’s hitting .364 against his former team, including one home run and two doubles.

Moises Alou meanwhile, is .318 against the former Montreal Expos, over 280 at bats. In a slightly smaller sample size, he’s .375 against Perez, in 16 at bats. He’s hit in his last five games.

Lastly, Carlos Beltran , whose May is better than his April, is .375 against Perez, and had a home run in his last appearance against the Nats. It was his last home run till he knocked one out yesterday afternoon against the Reds.

Game time is 7:10, and you can watch it in all its glory on SNY, or enjoy the sweet tones of Howie on WFAN. If you prefer reading, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers where we’ll discuss the game, Mets baseball, and other blogs that Keith Hernandez reads.

After each team taking a W in yesterdays double header, the Mets (18-16) will face off against the Reds (15-22) in the rubber match of the series. The Reds will send rising star Johnny Cueto (2-3, 5.27) to the mound to take on Ollie Perez (2-3, 4.63). Game time is slated for 1:10pm and can be seen/heard on CW11 and WFAN (660AM).

Here is today’s starting line up, courtesy of Mike Nichols at Mets Blog:

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

Just a few interesting notes:

• After hitting his 436th career home run, Carlos Delgado now leads the All Time Home Run list for Puerto Rican-Born Major Leaguers. Juan Gonzalez comes in right behind him with 434.
• Jose Reyes is currently leading the majors with 5 triples this season. He is 5 triples away from breaking the franchise record of 62 held by Mookie Wilson.
• The Mets are ranking 5th in the National League and 9th in the majors with an ERA of 3.86.

As always join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to discuss the game and everything else Mets.

The Reds (14-21) come to NY to face off against the Mets (17-15) in game one of a three game set and of today’s double header. Johan Santana (3-2) will make a start for the Mets in and toeing the mound against him will be Matt Belisle (1-2)

Your starting line up courtesy of Mets Blog:

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

Game time is set for 1:10pm (SNY, WFAN). As always, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to chat with your follow Mets fans from around the world.

The Mets (15-13) finish up their series versus the Diamondbacks (21-9) in today’s rubber match. Johan Santana will pitch for the Mets opposite Dan Haren (Hey, I hear he may be available). The lineup’s are courtesy of Adam Rubin’s blog for The Daily News.

Lineup:

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

As Dan reported earlier, Schneider is back today and the Mets are playing with their full lineup for the first time this season.

Catch the game starting at 4:10pm locally on the CW, or on WFAN. As always, head on over to the Hot Foot Bleachers to chat about the game and discuss the over/under for Alou’s next injury.

Vegas has the line at 4 games. I’m thinking under.

The Mets (15-12) will play game 2 of the three game set today in Chase Field vs the Diamondback (20-9). Mike Pelfrey (2-1) will toe the mound against Brandon Webb (6-0).

Here is today’s line up courtesy of Mets Blog:

Game time (as you probably know because the game has already started) is slated for a 3:40pm start and will be aired on FOX and WFAN. As always, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to discusses today’s game.

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.

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.

Today the Mets (11-11) will take on the Braves (12-11) at Shea for game two of their 3 game set. RHP John Maine (1-2) will toe the mound for the Mets against Tim Hudson (3-1).

Lineup courtesy of Mets Blog:

• SS Jose Reyes
• LF Endy Chavez
• 3B David Wright
• CF Carlos Beltran
• RF Ryan Church
  
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• 2B Damion Easley
• C Gustavo Molina
• RH John Maine

The game can be seen on the CW11 and MLB.tv and heard on WFAN (660AM). As always, join the Hot Foot staff and other mets fans in the Hot Foot Bleachers for an in-game chat.

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!

All the Mets with usable thumbs will take on the Nats in game 2 of their series at the Yet To Be Named Nationals Ball Park, or as we like to think of it, the House That Dmitri Young Built.

Oliver Perez takes the mound, in what is sure to be a great or disastrous night, with no middle ground whatsoever. Open your beverages now. Ollie is 2-0, 2.49 with two no decisions that came in Met losses. Three of his starts were shutout affairs for Perez, while the other involved six earned runs in just over four innings. Basically, classic Ollie. Perez is 2-2, 5.26 career against the Nats, but has seen them for less than 26 total innings. He takes on Shawn Hill , who’s playing his second game of the season. Shawn gave up four runs in a Nats lose for a no decision back on the 19th. He has a 2.57 ERA against the Mets, in two starts.

Lineup:

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

The key tonight will be Ollie finally making it through six, or preferable more, innings, a problem he has struggled with this season. David Wright is .311 for the season, walking once but hitless last night. Beltran doubled yesterday which made his offense half as good as Johans , it was his 8th of the season.

Gametime is 7:10, and can be enjoyed on both SNY and WFAN. As always, stop on by the Hot Foot Bleachers, to discuss the game, Mets baseball, and other odd injuries that only happen to the Mets.

The Mets look to make everyone forget Chicago happened, much like the people of Chicago often do, and hope to do so against the Nats. Remember, the no hugging Manny Acta rule is still in effect.

Johan Santana takes the mound for NY. Johan is 2-2, 3.25 for the season, with none of those games against the Nats. He as a 2.4 ERA career against them, and is 2.57 for the season on the road. He faces Tim Redding , 3-1, 3.27 ERA. Redding has faced the Mets six times, with a 4.00 ERA and a win in his sole decision.

Lineups:

• SS Reyes
• 2B Castillo
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• RF Church
• 1B Delgado
• LF Pagan
• C Schneider
• P Johan

The offensively struggling Delgado gets dropped a bit in the order, and Schneider returns after allowing the swelling in his arm to go down. David Wright went hitless last time he faced DC, but is 2 for 4 in his few at bats against Redding. He’s .331 career against the Nats. Church was 4 for 13 the last time the teams met, for a respectable .308. He’s hitting .338 for the season, and leads the team in runs.

Gametime is 7:10, catch it on SNY or WFAN. As always, join us at the Hot Foot Bleachers to talk the game, Mets baseball, and why the Mets should never play a midafternoon Tuesday game at Wrigley ever again. Lets go Mets!

After getting a little bit of sleep following last nights marathon, the Mets are in Philly this weekend where they will…well, play the Phillies. Maybe grab a cheesesteak, meet Ben Franklin…there’s really not much to do there aside from play the Phillies.

Johan Santana will pitch for New York. Johan is 1-2, 3.05 ERA. He’s done better work on the road (hint: stop booing him at home), going seven full innings in both road outings. In his sole game against the Phils, he pitched 4 and 2/3 innings giving up one run on two hits. He faces Cole Hamels, who’s kind of doing good right now. Just a heads up there. He won his last two starts, giving up just one run over 14 innings. His sole loss was in a 1-0 game, in which he surrendered the sole run, but lasted a full eight. Cole has a 2.77 ERA in four starts against the Mets, striking out 26 Met batters while giving up 5 Met homeruns.

Lineup:

• SS Reyes
• RF Church
• 3B Wright
• CF Beltran
• 1B Delgado
• LF Pagan
• C Schneider
• 2B Castillo
• P Johan Santana

Beltran (neck) and Scnheider both return to the lineup tonight, which will feature all the regulars despite last nights never ending story. Jose hits .331 at CBP and 317 against the Phils in general, so lets see if the return of happy Jose plus the return to CBP equals success. He’s hitting .296 going into the game, mostly do to having gone 8-15 against the Nats. David Wright however…has just one hit in 11 at bats against Cole Hamels, with a meager .242 average against the Phillies. On the plus side, 14 of his 101 career homeruns were against Philly, which considering he has less than 60 hits against them, is pretty good.

Game time is 7:05. Listen to it on WFAN. Watch it on the CW. Picture it in your mind. Talk about talk about it talk about it talk about moving…to the hot foot bleachers where as always you can join other Met fans to discuss the game, Mets baseball, and if its ok to hug Manny Acta.

The series is won, but can we sweep? Will the feel good story of Nelson Figueroa have yet another happy chapter, or will he be killed by the dark wizard?

Figueroa, after his first start in over 3 years, is 1-0 with a 4.5 ERA. His first four innings were hittless, he went six overall. John Lannan takes the mound for DC. He’s 0-2, 6.75 in just two starts. He’s faced the Mets just once before, giving up five runs in five and two third innings. A similar start would be an improvement for him, he gave up six runs in four against Atlanta in his last outing.

The lineup you say?

• SS Reyes
• RF Church
• 3B Wright
• 1B Delgado
• LF Pagan
• CF Clark
• 2B Castillo
• C Cassanova
• P Nelson

Beltran (sore) and Schneider (no reason) both have the day off. Cassanova is a career .302 against the Nats, this will be just his second start as a Met. Reyes went 2 for 3 with a double in his only game against Lannan. Brady Clark gets his first start, he’s seen just 3 at bats as a Met.

Game time is 7:10, as always you can enjoy it on WFAN or SNY. The choice is yours. For the best Mets themed in game chat in the Nation (plus wherever CVER is), head on by the Hot Foot Bleachers where we’ll be discussing the game, Mets baseball, and the upcoming firing of New York Sports Icon, Isiah Thomas.

The Mets (6-6) take on the Washington Nationals (4-10) in game 2 of this 3 game series. Tonight’s lineup is courtesy of John Delcos’ blog for The Journal News.

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

John Maine will take the mound today opposite Matt Chico. Maine threw 6+ innings of one run ball in his last outing, a ND vs the Phillies.

Willie is sticking with Church hitting second and Castillo eighth for the second straight game.

Catch the game starting at 7:10pm on SNY. As always, head on over to the Hot Foot Bleachers, to chat about the game and lucky tube socks.