IGT 05/09/07 Maine looks for 6th win, first as bald guy

[Benjamin Grimm]

NY Mets (20-12) at San Francisco (17-15)

Game Info: 3:35 pm EDT Wed May 9, 2007
TV: SNY, KTVU
Temp: 60° F

;Starting Pitchers http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/players/20070502/7386.jpg ;J. Maine NYM vs. http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/players/20070502/5784.jpg ;M. Morris SF 5-0 Record 4-1 1.37 ERA 3.20 37 K 15 18 BB 18 2 HR 1

By AMY JO WALKER, STATS Writer

The New York Mets own the best road record in the majors this season. John Maine is a big reason why.

Maine looks to remained undefeated and help his team take its three-game series from the San Francisco Giants when they meet in the finale on Wednesday.

New York (20-12) is an impressive 13-5 away from home this season, including a 4-1 win over the Giants on Tuesday, and has dropped only one road series in 2007. The Mets' top three batters in the order Tuesday - Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran - combined to go 5-for-13 with three RBIs in the victory.

Reyes went 2-for-5 with a double and a triple, and is batting .379 during his 13-game hitting streak.

Maine (5-0, 1.37 ERA) is looking to become the NL's first pitcher to six victories, which would also match his career high set last season. The right-hander, who turned 26 on Tuesday, has the best ERA in the majors.

He has won all four of his road starts, allowing only three earned runs through 27 innings while holding opponents to a .138 batting average. On Friday at Arizona, he held the Diamondbacks to one run over six innings while striking out seven in a 5-3 victory.

"He proved a lot to me tonight," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "He didn't have his best stuff, but good pitchers learn to adjust and improvise a little bit."

Maine, April's NL pitcher of the month, is facing San Francisco (17-15) for the first time. He may not have to square off against Barry Bonds, as the slugger could sit out this day game after a night game.

Bonds moved within 10 homers of Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755 on Tuesday, connecting off New York's Tom Glavine for his 11th of the season. That was the only offense the Giants could muster, though, as they dropped to 7-3 in games when Bonds goes deep.

"Our focus is winning ballgames," said San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy, whose team was held to one run for the first time in 16 games. "They go hand in hand, his home runs and winning ballgames."

Matt Morris (4-1, 3.20) goes for his fifth win in just his seventh start of the season when he takes the mound for San Francisco. The right-hander didn't reach five wins until his 15th start of 2006.

He has been tough to beat in 2007, holding opponents to three or fewer earned runs in all but one of his outings. Morris allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings of a 6-2 win over Philadelphia on Friday.

He is an impressive 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA in three home starts and will look to continue that success against the Mets, against whom he is 6-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 15 career outings.

However, Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca is 7-for-11 with a double versus Morris.

San Francisco right fielder Randy Winn is riding a 10-game hitting streak, batting .372 during that span, and has at least one hit in his last six meetings with New York.

[metirish]

Keith Hernandez seems to take this superstitious stuff seriously,if Maine gets beat today he will blame the buzz cut.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

David Wright's new endorsement deal:

[metirish]

Any word on weather Madame Tussauds did a job on Wright?..

[TransMonk]

Every day, I get up and pray to Jah
And he decreases the number of clocks by exactly one
Everybody's comin' home for lunch these days
Last night there were skinheads on my lawn
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Some people say that bowling alleys got big lanes
Some people say that bowling alleys all look the same
There's not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything
I has a dream last night, but I forget what it was
I had a dream last night about you, my friend
I had a dream--I wanted to sleep next to plastic
I had a dream--I wanted to lick your knees
I had a dream--it was about nothing

[metirish]

Would it be OK if I used this image as my new sig line?.

[Benjamin Grimm]

We'd rather you didn't!

[Guest sharpie]

Bonds playing rare day game after night game

Reyes ss
Wright 3b
Beltran cf
Delgado 1b
Alou lf
Green rf
Lo Duca c
Gotay 2b
Maine p


Roberts cf
Vizquel ss
Klesko 1b
Bonds lf
Durham 2b
Feliz 3b
Sweeney rf
Alfonzo c
Morris p

[Guest Edgy DC]

Baldie ss
Buzzie 3b
Baldtran cf
Milk Dud1b
Skinhead lf
Cue Ball rf
Kojak c
Waxy 2b
Shine p

[Benjamin Grimm]

This will be Wright's 8th start in the number 2 slot.

Hey! Game starts in about four minutes!

I'll listen to the second half of this game on the car radio driving home from work. Maybe it's partly because of the Extra Innings package, but I rarely listen to the radio broadcasts anymore. (Extra Innings isn't a factor when I'm in the car, though. For some reason, the Mets don't often play baseball when I'm driving.)

I think the last time I listened to a Mets game on WFAN was in 2005, the game where Beltran and Cameron smashed their faces together.

[Willets Point]

metirish wrote: Would it be OK if I used this image as my new sig line?.

You'd need to scale that mutha down a whole lot.

[DocTee]

Bullshit! Klesko missed the bag!

[Frayed Knot]

Dave Roberts: lead-off BB, then caught stealing.

So I guess that proves that if LoDuca had been catching for the Yanx in '04 the Sawx would still be looking for their first WS title since WWI

[nymr83]

LoDuca gets 2 in one inning? is that his career high for a month?

[metirish]

Willets Point wrote: ="metirish"] Would it be OK if I used this image as my new sig line?. You'd need to scale that mutha down a whole lot.

You didn't really think I was serious...of course taking the piss online can be a difficult chore.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm sure there are web sites where you can see people peeing online.

It's probably not that difficult if you have a web cam.

[Guest sharpie]

]LoDuca gets 2 in one inning? is that his career high for a month?

He's over 50% throwing out runners this season. Don't know why he's so much better this season than last.

[Guest Rotblatt]

For those of us following along online, by how much was Maine missing?

And hey, how about sending Vizquel with Bonds at the bat? That's just flat out crazy talk right there.

[Frayed Knot]

I'd like to personally thank the SF Giants for erasing two baserunners
in front of Bonds and allowing us to pitch to him leading off the inning.

[Frayed Knot]

GOAT-EYE !!!!

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

gO-TAY!

[Willets Point]

[Centerfield]

Delgado to CF: Bunt this.

[Gwreck]

Carlos!

If Gameday is accurate, Delgado now holds the lead for Homers into McCovey Cove by a non-Giant (2 HRs as a Met, one as a Marlin). Which two players are tied for #2?

[Frayed Knot]

Must be the bald head ... oh wait!

[Guest Edgy DC]

MILK DUD!

[Willets Point]

(en espanol)

[metirish]

Fucking brilliant by Willets,not half bad by Delgado either.

[Gwreck]

Can't remember the last time a Met reached on catcher's interference.

[Centerfield]

Jints get on the board on a WP by Maine. Mets fail to make contact in the 5th. Onto the bottom of the inning, 8-9-1 due up for SF.