Great homestand, but Met rotation still has a way to go

I was at the game today and got to see another Met first – John Maine became the first Met starter besides Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey to get a win this year. Going into today’s game, Maine, Jon Niese and Oliver Perez were a combined 0-4 in twelve starts.

I don’t know what’s more amazing:

• The Mets went 9-1 on the homestand.
• I saw Maine pitch twice on the homestand and he won both games.
• I needed my new Met ski cap at both games.

Maine pitched into the seventh today for the first time. It was only the second time all year that a pitcher besides Santana or Pelfrey made it that far.

I was so skeptical that Maine would last that long that I left my seat in the top of the sixth to use the rest room and get some hot chocolate (when I got my Met ski cap last Friday, I did not expect to be using it again so soon!). I figured that Maine would not last the inning and there would be a pitching change. But by the time I got back to my seat, Maine had struck out the side and my companions did not want to let me sit down because Maine was doing so well in my absence.

I hate to point out that the three batters Maine fanned were Casey Blake, Ronnie Belliard and Xavier Paul – not exactly Murderer’s Row. Or that Ollie had a good start a week and a half ago and there was much talk of how he was turning it around.

The Mets really need Maine to do well because the most likely replacement starter, Hisanori Takahashi, is a lefty, so he would be less likely to replace Maine, since that would give the Mets four lefty starters. But Takahashi could replace Perez.

Still, the Mets have managed to go 9-1 with the rotation as is, so it’s hard to complain.

And it’s great to see the other manager for a change being the one to say “we battled.”

“I was a lot more comfortable with the energy today,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “We battled it. I think the effort was there. We’ll get it straightened out, eventually.”

Squawker Lisa, the Mets are still in first place, and have a big showdown with the Phillies this weekend.

But you have something to look forward to as well – Javier Vazquez gets to face one of his former teams, the White Sox, in front of his adoring home fans.