A start to reMaineber

A quick flip-flop in the rotation ended up with John Maine's first NL win, a complete game 4-hit shutout. Maine was in control all night throwing 98 pitches, 67 for strikes. With the help of Cliff Floyd's leaping catch in the fifth to rob Chris Burke and Carlos Beltran's outfield assist to throw out Munson at home, Maine kept the Astros off the board. Willie Randolph had swapped El Duque and Maine in the rotation due to the possibility of rain (the start of the game was delayed 54 minutes by rain) and it couldn't have turned out better.

The Mets offense hit their fifth grand slam in two weeks. This time it was Jose Valentin, his 2nd in two weeks, in the 2nd inning off Taylor Buchholz. Carlos Delgado added a two-run shot in 5th to back Maine's performance.

The Mets improved to 58-38 with the win and lead the NL East by 13 games.

Pedro DL'd, Pelfrey promoted

The Mets have righted themselves after a little scuffle by winning three in a row, albeit against the National League's lowliest team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. With a 4-game weekend series (including a Saturday day-night doubleheader) upon them the Mets made some roster moves.

Jose Lima (0-3, 8.79 ERA) has been recalled and will start tonight. Lima Time has not had success with the Mets and I was surprised he hadn't been released. However by having him start it means Darren Oliver doesn't have to and can be used for mop-up duty while not destroying the bullpen. Lima will face off against Dontrelle Willis (5-7, 3.96 ERA) who has improved since we last saw him in April.

For Saturday with the move to put Pedro Martinez and his ailing hip on the DL, retroactive to the date of his start on June 29 meaning his eligible to come off the first game after the All-Star Break, the Mets will start John Maine (0-2, 5.40) and prized prospect Mike Pelfrey (0-0,-.--) for a doubleheader. Pelfrey was the 9th overall selection in the 2005 First Year Player Draft. He was dominant in Single-A and has won his last four starts at Double-A Binghamton. Omar Minaya made clear that Pelfrey will only make this one start to get his feet wet and test his mettle before going back to the Minors. Even so this is an exciting time for Mets fan who have already been able to see Lastings Milledge at the big league level and will now get to see the best pitching the farm has to offer. The Marlins will sent Ricky Nolasco (6-5, 3.97) and Josh Johnson (7-4, 2.34) to the mound. Also part of this move was to recall reliever Henry Owens from Binghamton. The Mets had tried to call up Heath Bell but since Bell was with the Mets on the retroactive date that Pedro Martinez's DL stint was set to he was quickly sent back and Owens brought up. Owens has been a dominant closer for Binghamton recording 51 strikeouts in 25 innings allowing only eight hits and eight walks while recording 11 saves.

Tom Glavine (11-2, 3.43) will start Sunday's game in search of his major league leading 12th win. He will be opposed by Scott Olsen (6-4, 4.17).

The Mets improved their record to 51-34 by taking three of four from the Pirates. With the Phillies loss their magic number to clinch stands at 66.