John Maine, after a very slow start to his Oliver Perez-like season, has turned the corner. He has thrown a quality start in each of his last three outings.
His string of successful starts began in game one of a doubleheader at Citi Field against the Dodgers on April 28 where he threw six innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits.
Then on May 4 at the Reds he went six innings, allowing one earned run on four hits. In his last start on Monday against the Nationals, he also went six innings, allowing two runs but was the hard-luck loser.
Now he will attempt to continue his string of effectiveness against the Florida Marlins tonight, and man do the Mets need a win. Their two losses so far to the Marlins have both been either heart-breaking or gut-wrenching. Heart-breaking on Thursday when they lost on a wild pitch for the first time since 1981, gut-wrenching on Friday when Oliver Perez showed it’s time to send him packing.
The Mets are a mind boggling 4-10 on the road this season and they really can use a couple of wins this weekend to salvage a split. Although they’ll have the “Maine” man on the mound to get the job done, it may not mean a thing.
Even if they get another six inning, two run performance out of Maine, the offense is capable of scoring less than that. Jerry Manuel stubbornly decided to keep his lineup as is for Friday night’s game and it backfired.
Strikeouts, which have been the norm for the Mets’ offense this season, continued. They let Anibal Sanchez record seven of those in four innings. Jose Reyes in the third spot once again went 0-for-4. Who knows how many runs they’ll accumulate against Marlins starter Nate Robertson who dominated them in April at Citi Field.
In his first start of the season on April 8, he allowed one run in five innings, and only exited early because he threw 94 pitches. In that game, David Wright went 0-for-4 and so did Fernando Tatis, who was starting at first base. Jose Reyes hadn’t started his season yet, and Ike Davis hadn’t been called up yet, so we’ll see how those two fair against Robertson.
With the Phillies beating the Brewers last night, the Mets now trail the NL East leaders by four games, five in the loss column. In fact, the Mets are only one-half game in front of the Braves for last place in the division.
It’s time for the Mets’ offense to get it going, because if this is what they’re all about, the Mets are in for a very long summer.
John Maine vs. Florida (April 7)
ND, 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 hits, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2 HR
Nate Robertson vs. New York (April 8)
Win, 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, 0 BB, 4 SO
2010 season series (New York vs. Florida)
April 5 : New York 7, Florida 1
April 7 : Florida 7, New York 6 (10)
April 8 : Florida 3, New York 1
May 13 : Florida 2, New York 1
May 14 : Florida 7, New York 2
Marlins lead series 4-1
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