NL Beast

The Game:Washington Nationals (17-24) at New York Mets (20-18)

The Matchup:Jason Bergmann (0-1, 11.68) at Mike Pelfrey (2-3, 4.86)

The Story: Aaron Heilman blew last night’s game for the Mets, surrendering three runs in one-third of an inning before being booed off of the field at Shea Stadium. Today, the Mets look to move on and go for the split against Washington. Mike Pelfrey got credited with the loss in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Reds, but has pitched better of late. He needs to be more aggressive and not get behind in counts in order to find success against the thin Washington lineup, which has the next to lowest batting average of any team in Major League Baseball.

Jason Bergmann returns to the Nationals after being demoted to Triple-A Columbus after a rough April 12 game against Atlanta. Bergmann pitches in the zone–his K/BB ratio this year is 6–so Mets hitters will look to attack the ball.

Should be interesting to see if Scott Schoeneweiss makes it to the game today; he was hospitalized after his arms turned blue and his hands went numb. According to Adam Rubin, this was just a complication from the flu-like symptoms that have been going around the Mets clubhouse lately. Scary stuff.

Late word that Nationals 1B Nick Johnson is being placed on the DL after an MRI revealed a tear of the tendon sheath in his right wrist (whatever that is). Dmitri Young will be recalled from his rehab assignment tomorrow.

For the Mets, Luis Castillo returns to the lineup after missing a couple of games with knee soreness. Marlon Anderson takes Moises Alou’s place in the day after night lineup despite Alou’s early exit after being ejected last night. Ramon Castro gets the start behind the plate for New York.

For the Nationals, Lastings Milledge shifts to right field after appearing to have lost his center field job. Austin Kearns replaces him. Rob Mackowiak gets the start in left today begging the question, where have you gone, Wily Mo?

Lineups:

Nationals: Lopez (2B), Guzman (SS), Zimmerman (3B), Boone (1B), Milledge (RF), Kearns (CF), Mackowiak (LF), Flores (C), Bergmann (P)

Mets: Reyes (SS), Castillo (2B), Wright (3B), Beltran (CF), Church (RF), Delgado (1B), Castro (C), Anderson (LF), Pelfrey (P)