Mets(courtesy of mlb.com)
Maine, meanwhile, will try to recapture his Flushing magic. Both Shea Stadium and Citi Field have been his fortresses the past two seasons, with a far better record at home (11-3) than away (6-11).
“I think that we saw John Maine better his last outing,” said skipper Jerry Manuel, referring to the right-hander’s five innings of three-run ball Sunday in St. Louis, which reduced his ERA from 13.50 to 10.38. “The number of foul balls, those types of things. We saw him a little better than we had seen before. So hopefully this next outing, we’ll see an even more improved John Maine.”
With a gritty Johan Santana on the mound Thursday, the Mets packaged just enough punch to decision Cubs left-hander Tom Gorzelanny, but that might not dissuade Manuel from the lineup shakeup he envisioned for his club’s next meeting with a right-hander.
Kawakami, you’re next.
“I’m going to have to make some adjustments in the lineups unless I see some difference in the at-bats,” Manuel said. “I don’t like the opposing manager to have a righty have some shots at three straight guys. I’ve got to find a way to break that up a little bit.”
Manuel referred to the David Wright-Jason Bay-Jeff Francoeur heart of his lineup. That trio is a combined 28-for-122 (.230) against right-handed pitching.
“I might have to bat [Bay] second,” Manuel added. “I’ve got to find a way to get him his pitch when he’s struggling.”
The Mets have reached hits in double figures only once in their 16 games, a 12-hit barrage against the Nationals on April 9. … Francoeur’s RBI single in the sixth snapped his 0-for-24 slump that began in Saturday’s 20-inning dance with the Cardinals.
Lineup
Pagan, CF
Castillo, 2B
Reyes, SS
Bay, LF
Wright, 3B
Davis, 1B
Francouer, RF
Barajas, C
Maine, P
Braves(courtesy of mlb.com)
Fresh off a home series in which they gathered 21 hits in three games against the Phillies, the Braves aim to keep Mets righty John Maine from snapping out of his early-season funk.
“We’ve got certain guys that are swinging the bat well, and certain sections of the lineup that are swinging the bat well, and others that are just struggling right now,” said the Braves’ Chipper Jones. “We’ve got to stand by them and help them through this period. They’re not going to hit under .200 for the whole season. You’ve just got to get some confidence in them.”
Meanwhile, the Mets, who are proving that they don’t need much firepower to win behind their stellar pitching, take aim at Kenshin Kawakami, the 34-year-old veteran from Japan.
Both clubs rank near the bottom of the National League in team hitting, but that hasn’t recently been an insurmountable problem.
Atlanta went 23 2/3 innings without scoring off an opposing starter between Jason Heyward’s bases-loaded walk against Colorado’s Greg Smith in the third inning Sunday and Matt Diaz’s run-scoring grounder against Jaime Moyer in the fifth inning Thursday.
Lineup
Mclouth, CF
Prado, 2B
Jones, 3B
Mccann, C
Heyward, RF
Hinske, 1B
Cabrera, LF
Infante, SS
Kawakami, P
PLAY BALL
24 comments
metsfan4decades
4/23/2010-7:12pm at 7:12 pm (UTC -4)
Go Maine! Go Mets!
rustyjr
4/23/2010-7:19pm at 7:19 pm (UTC -4)
Mai e looked good thus far
asod75
4/23/2010-7:44pm at 7:44 pm (UTC -4)
Definitely concerned about the lack of velocity. According to gameday, Maine has hit 90 just twice thus far….
asod75
4/23/2010-7:47pm at 7:47 pm (UTC -4)
Come on Johnny, need to escape here. Offense looks dormant again…
asod75
4/23/2010-7:48pm at 7:48 pm (UTC -4)
Larry strikes again….
asod75
4/23/2010-7:51pm at 7:51 pm (UTC -4)
Maine nibbling. Knows he’s got nothing. 88 MPH heater isn’t going to cut it. Bases loaded for Heyward…
asod75
4/23/2010-7:53pm at 7:53 pm (UTC -4)
Whew…..
johan4cy
4/23/2010-7:51pm at 7:51 pm (UTC -4)
It is equally as hard to root against your fantasy team as it is to root against the Mets. I’m hoping for 8 strong innings by Kawakami and a Mets’s comeback in the 9th against the Braves bullpen.
asod75
4/23/2010-8:08pm at 8:08 pm (UTC -4)
Maine hurt? Is he holding his arm or something? Could explain a lot….
metsfan4decades
4/23/2010-8:10pm at 8:10 pm (UTC -4)
Oh, poor Maine…..really visibly upset.
Speculating something with his non pitching arm.
I really wonder if that ‘minor’ surgery resulted in them mucking up something for Maine.
asod75
4/23/2010-8:14pm at 8:14 pm (UTC -4)
His non pitching arm? That sucks. I’ve always liked Maine. However, could be an opportunity to shut down and go on a minor-league assignment and build up that arm strength. Something has been lacking, namely the fastball.
asod75
4/23/2010-8:24pm at 8:24 pm (UTC -4)
Wright just looks lost up there…..
metsfan4decades
4/23/2010-8:37pm at 8:37 pm (UTC -4)
Congrats Ike Davis! First ML HR.
Woot! Woot!
asod75
4/23/2010-8:38pm at 8:38 pm (UTC -4)
IKE IKE IKE….the Mets’ best hitter right now!
metsfan4decades
4/23/2010-8:47pm at 8:47 pm (UTC -4)
Taka – 5 Ks in 7 batters. Auditioning?
asod75
4/23/2010-8:49pm at 8:49 pm (UTC -4)
We could be seeing the replacement for Maine right now. Taka looks great tonight!
asod75
4/23/2010-8:55pm at 8:55 pm (UTC -4)
Back to back triples baby. New lineup in effect!
metsfan4decades
4/23/2010-8:55pm at 8:55 pm (UTC -4)
Welcome to the party, Bay!
metsfan4decades
4/23/2010-9:03pm at 9:03 pm (UTC -4)
Maine: muscles spasms and pain in left elbow.
‘Day to day’.
asod75
4/23/2010-9:24pm at 9:24 pm (UTC -4)
I always get nervous when Valdes comes in for some reason. Something to do with “on loan from a Mexican League team.”
asod75
4/23/2010-9:25pm at 9:25 pm (UTC -4)
And more often than not, I’ve been happily proven wrong by him. Nice job Raul….
asod75
4/23/2010-10:09pm at 10:09 pm (UTC -4)
K-Rod giving me a major Rolaids moment here. No velocity or control…..
asod75
4/23/2010-10:14pm at 10:14 pm (UTC -4)
YES!!!!
metsfan4decades
4/23/2010-10:20pm at 10:20 pm (UTC -4)
And the Ballgame is OVER!