New York Mets (40-42 Road: 18-24) at St. Louis Cardinals (48-36 Home: 24-17) 8:15pm
Tony Armas, Jr. (0-0 0.00) vs. Todd Wellemeyer (7-2 3.46)
TV: SNY Radio: WFAN
What to watch: Tonight will be the first start of the season for Armas in the big leagues. He’s pitched well in Triple-A New Orleans. The Mets looked pretty lifeless last night so it’ll be interesting to see if they can rebound and show some energy.
New York Mets (40-41 Road: 18-23) at St. Louis Cardinals (47-36 Home: 23-17) 7:05pm
John Maine (8-5 3.73) vs. Kyle Lohse (9-2 3.94)
TV: ESPN, SNY Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Mets roll into St. Louis as a mediocre team at the halfway point of the season. The Cards haven’t been playing that well lately either. Two weeks ago they got swept by the Royals and since have gone 5-4. They just got Pujols back so that won’t help the Mets but it should be a good four game series in steamy St. Louis.
New York Yankees (44-37 Road: 22-19) at New York Mets (39-41 Home: 21-18) 1:10pm
Darrell Rasner (4-5 4.50) vs. Oliver Perez (5-5 5.29)
TV: CW11 Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Mets are forced into a position of counting on Oliver Perez to avoid a home sweep by the Yankees before leaving for St. Louis tonight. The Mets have had almost no offense in the last two games but do get Ryan Church back today. The word is that he’ll probably hit sixth today behind Carlos Delgado.
New York Yankees (43-37 Road: 21-19) at New York Mets (39-40 Home: 21-17) 3:55pm
Andy Pettite (8-5 4.04) vs. Johan Santana (7-6 2.93)
TV: FOX Radio: WFAN
What to watch: Obviously, this is a great pitching match up. That’s why Fox took it for their national game. Santana hasn’t won a game since June 1 and lost his last two starts. It’s time for him to lock down the Yankees for a win today. The Mets have a real chance to move up in the standings because the Phils are playing so poorly right now. Today is the perfect day to start taking advantage of that.
New York Yankees (42-37 Road: 20-19) at New York Mets (39-39 Home: 21-16) 8:05pm
Sidney Ponson (4-1 3.88) vs. Pedro Martinez (2-1 6.57)
TV: YES, WPIX Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Mets go for the split stadium double header sweep tonight. Ponson is making his first start for the Yankees this season after being released by the Rangers. Pedro gets his first start at Shea Stadium since his win versus Texas on June 15. Hopefully, the Mets crowd will lay off Carlos Delgado for one game after he went berserk in the Bronx.
New York Mets (38-39 Road: 17-23) at New York Yankees (42-36 Home:22-17) 2:05pm
Mike Pelfrey (4-6 4.30) vs. Dan Giese (1-2 0.64)
What to watch: This is the first game of the dual stadium double header today. This will be a battle of two very inexperienced starting pitchers. The Mets really need to make a statement this weekend against the Yankees after losing a home series to the Mariners.
Seattle Mariners (28-49 Road: 13-25) at New York Mets (37-39 Home: 20-16) 7:10pm
Miguel Batista (3-9 6.26) vs. John Maine (7-5 3.78)
What to watch: The Mets try to avoid a home sweep at the hands of the worst team in baseball. Incredible! Maine had a good start in Colorado last Friday. Let’s hope that he can keep it going. I haven’t seen any suspensions announced from MLB yet for Jerry Manuel and Carlos Beltran. We’ll have to keep an eye on that.
The Mets Report 