The Mets(3-4) square off against the Phillies(4-5) in the rubber game of their three game set tonight starting at 7:10 EST. The pitchers will be John Maine(0-1) and Adam Eaton(0-0). Maine went four innings and allowed four runs in his first start against the Braves last Saturday. Eaton went 7.2 strong innings his his first start, allowing 2 runs and receiving a no decision against the Reds. Lineup courtesy of David Lennon at his blog.

Lineup

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

Phils

• CF Victorino
• SS Bruntlett
• 2B Utley
• 1B Howard
• LF Burrell
• RF Jenkins
• 3B Feliz
• C Coste
• P Eaton

As always, head on over to The Hot Foot Bleachers to talk Mets Baseball during the game.

Jimmy Rollins tells Todd Zolecki at Philly.com that he isn’t sure if he would be able to play in the rubber game of the three game set tonight. He said he more than likely could pinch-hit against a right handed pitcher.

Rollins had the third-longest consecutive-games streak in baseball broken with 230 games. Grady Sizemore (366 games) and Atlanta’s Jeff Francoeur (334) have the first and second longest current streaks.

Zolecki also points out that the Phillies entered last night having won the last five games against the Mets in which New York held a two-run lead. It was the Phillies’ longest streak of that type since winning five in a row against the Houston Astros in 1980-81.

From Dave Lennon’s Newsday blog…

Those (2007) Phillies lost their first three games, began the season 4-11 and were 6 1/2 games bak on April 20. Just saying. It’s only six games.

Don’t get too comfortable but please, don’t jump!

Look, in order for the Mets to get going, they need Jose Reyes to get them started.

From MetsTumblr…

Jose Reyes has not stolen a base since last September 15th against the Phillies. That makes 21 consecutive games without swiping a bag. By the way, the Mets are 7-14 in those games.

The Mets(2-4) were defeated by the Phillies(4-4) by a score of 5-2 in the final home opener in Shea Stadium’s history. The winning pitcher was Jamie Moyer, the loser Scott Schoeneweis. Tom Gordon picked up the save.

The Mets got the scoring going in the 2nd when Carlos Delgado belted a Moyer pitch over the right field wall to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. The Mets scored again in the 5th on a Ryan Church rbi groundout.

The Phillies then went to work against Schoeneweis. Show allowed a single to Jimmy Rollins, walked Shane Victorino, and then hit Chase Utley to load up the bases. Ryan Howard followed with a double play ball to Delgado, which he threw and hit Utley in the back. Two runs scored on the play. The Phillies tacked on 2 more runs in the 8th against Aaron Heilman.

The same two teams go at it again tomorrow night at 7:10 EST. Kyle Kendrick will face “The Big Pelf“.

According to RotoWorld, the Marlins have acquired Wes Helms from the Phillies for cash.

Odd move for the Marlins, who are usually pinching pennies. Helms is owed $2.9 million.

Helms had a .965 OPS in 240 ABs last year.

While suddenly ESPN wants to make the Braves the trendy pick in the NL East, we take a moment to look back at the Mets and Phillies rivalry of last year.

Will the rivalry have legs? Only time will tell. The Mets and Braves have been arch-rivals for much longer and many think the Braves are being underestimated. I think its important to watch this video and remember how tough it was to watch the Phillies take away what should have been the Mets division so nothing is taken for granted this time around.

The Mets will have to improve their focus and not allow the same thing to happen again this year.

For Fox Sports, Dayn Perry breaks down the best rivalries in baseball. His top four in order are: Red Sox-Yankees, Dodgers-Giants, Cardinals-Cubs and Mets-Phillies.

For the Mets-Phillies, he writes:

Here’s the most ascendant rivalry in the game right now. You’ve got all the ingredients for hatred: proximity, same division, a healthy percentage of sub-moron fans on both sides, and a recent history of beery indiscretions.

What’s held this one back is that fact that rarely have the Mets and Phillies been worth a crap at the same time. Now, however, there’s actually something at stake. Throw last year’s white-knuckled race and this winter’s smack-talking into the mix, and you’ve got quite the nifty rivalry. Sure, it lacks the veneer of age that the match-ups above have, but the intensity and importance are there.

At this point, we could hand out a few consolation prizes, but that would be abandoning our standards for great rivalries. So four — and only four — it is. Miffed that your team doesn’t have a spot on the list? Start punching opposing fans more often.

This is really starting to irk me. It frustrates me how short-sighted people are being about rivalries, and granted I cannot tell anybody how much they hate a team, or who they root against the hardest. Yet, the Braves-Mets rivalry has been going on longer. It has been competitive for longer. It is also classy. I want to smack the hell out of them when I play them, but as an organization and a team, I really respect the Braves, they are a class act. The Phillies on the other hand came out and have been trying to artificially create a rivalry because they don’t have one, and they are dragging us into it. They came out, made a cocky guarantee (that unfortunately turned out to be true) and now all of a sudden they are our biggest rivals? No, they are a third wheel that is desperately looking for a date but they can’t find one. So, they ask somebody who already has a significant other, and try to weasel their way into a date. Don’t fall for it, we rival the Braves people!

According to the AP, Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton has a herniated disk according to MRI and CAT scan results, though he still plans on being ready to play when the season starts.

Who’s more likely to actually be able to pitch come opening day, Eaten or Duque? Throw Hampton down in Atlanta into the mix and its at least comforting to know that everyone in the East is struggling with their pitchers and health. Between the three of us we could almost put together a rotation of pitchers who claim they’ll be ready by April that we all know won’t be.

Philadelphia Magazine’s A.J. Daulerio writes on his Daily Examiner blog that the Philadelphia Phillies may lead the majors in lap dances this season. The possibly not-safe for work link that follows shows some of the talent the Phillies are boasting off the field.

Well done gentlemen. You’ve got a shoulder, or a lap perhaps, to cry on when your season begins to crumble.