NL Beast

The Game: Washington Nationals (16-23) at New York Mets (19-17)

The Matchup: John Lannan (3-3, 3.40) vs. John Maine (4-2, 3.00)

The Story: The Mets look to rebound after a less than stellar effort last night that saw the two primary scapegoats, Nelson Figueroa and Jorge Sosa, get designated for assignment this morning. Tonight, the Mets take the field behind their second-best starter, John Maine, who was two outs from pitching a complete game shutout last week in Los Angeles. The Mets scored 12 runs in that game, and run support is much in demand for New York.

The Nationals’ biggest surprise of the season, John Lannan, takes the mound just miles from his Long Beach, New York home. Lannan has found great success this year, save one start when he surrendered 5 earned runs in 3 innings on May 2 at Houston. The southpaw Lannan relies mostly on his breaking ball, and has been very effective, posting a K/BB ratio of 1.89.

The Lineups:

Nationals: [Not yet posted]

Mets: Reyes (SS), Church (RF), Wright (3B), Beltran (CF), Alou (LF), Delgado (1B), Easley (2B), Schneider (C), Maine (P)