New York Mets (64-56 Road: 28-33) at Washington Nationals (44-77 Home: 23-35) 7:10pm
Oliver Perez (8-7 3.90) vs. Colin Balester (2-4 4.66)
What to watch: The Mets go for the sweep against the lowly Nationals. Perez has been astounding since working under the tutelage of pitching coach Dan Warthen. Balester has been decent for a rookie playing for a bad team. Let’s get the sweep and get out of town.
Visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans.
The AP ran a column by Ronald Blum detailing the ticket prices at Citi Field versus the new Yankee Stadium. Seats behind the plate will go for up to $495 compared to Yankees going for up to $2500. I found the most interesting piece to be the fact that only one luxury box remains for next season. They go for between $275,000 and $500,000. There are 49 total luxury boxes. Hurry up to buy yours now!
The Mets put on an offensive show tonight in Washington. They were aided by some really bad pitching by the Nationals Jason Bergmann. There were too many highlights to count but the Mets had homers from Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy, who raised his batting average to .467.
John Maine did a really nice job in his return from the disabled list. He went 5 innings giving up one hit and four walks on 90 pitches. Brian Stokes pitched the final 4 innings giving up three hits and no walks to complete the shutout.
Playing against the Nationals is a great way to get right coming off the Mets horrible loss at home to the Pirates on Monday. The Nationals are absolutely horrible.
New York Mets (63-56 Road: 27-33) at Washington Nationals (44-76 Home: 23-34) 7:10pm
John Maine (9-7 4.13) vs. Jason Bergmann (2-8 4.13)
What to watch: The Mets continue to try to patch together some wins with their bullpen in shambles. This might be Maine’s last start before going to the bullpen. The Mets really need to do some damage offensively against the struggling Nats so there isn’t so much pressure on the bullpen at the end of the game.
Visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans.
Mets fans hung onto our hats for Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano to get through the last two innings after another Johan Santana quality start. The typical script for these games has been the bullpen blowing the lead for Santana. Surprisingly, that didn’t happen tonight. Santana went seven strong innings giving up three runs for his tenth win of the season.
Carlos Beltran was 3 for 4 in the game. But the big RBI was Damion Easley’s on a hit by pitch in the eighth inning with the bases loaded. That put the Mets in front by a run and left the Mets crossing their fingers for the bullpen to come through. And they did…Finally!
Mets manager Jerry Manuel told reporters before today’s game that Oliver Perez or John Maine may go to the bullpen. The Mets beleaguered bullpen is in desperate need of help. Manuel wants a guy that can get swings and misses.
Most likely Jon Niese would be called up from Triple-A New Orleans to take over a spot in the rotation.
The Mets Report 