Mets return to Shea in 1st

After an great 6-1 road trip to Washington and Pittsburgh the Mets head home in 1st Place to take on the Atlanta Braves. On the road trip the Mets got great starting pitching from all 5 starters, the big problem that we saw again yesterday is the bullpen. Billy Wagner had a setback, which can become a big problem for the Mets. John Maine has given his consent if the team decides to make him their closer if Wagner is going to be out for an extended period of time. The Mets picked up Louis Alaya from the Nationals, but they need Wagner back and healthy.

The recent winning streak hid the fact the Carlos Delgado has cooled off after a remarkable July. He will likely get the night off today.  David Wright is making a strong case to be considered for the National League MVP, he has 95 RBI’s, 23 home runs, and 85 runs scored. He is on pace to have career highs in all those categories.

The Mets take on Atlanta in a 3 game series a team they have struggled against this year. The Mets post a 2-7 record with Braves. They need to turn it around against Atlanta to maintain first place in the East. They welcome in Houston for 4 games over the weekend next. Then a big series in Philly.

MATCHUP

Atlanta Braves (56-69, 4th Place NL East/12GB) at New York Mets (68-57, 1st Place NL East)

Tonight: Braves (Jo-Jo Reyes, 3-9, 5.33) at Mets (Oliver Perez, 9-7, 3.91) 7:10pm ET

Wednesday: Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 11-8, 3.15) at Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 11-8, 3.91) 7:10pm ET

Thursday: Braves (Mike Hampton, 2-1, 6.92) at Mets (Pedro Martinez, 4-3, 4.96) 7:10pm ET

This entry was posted on 19. August 2008 at 16:30 and is filed under Mets, MLB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.