Remember the Maine?

It had become difficult to remember, but there was actually a time when John Maine looked like he could become a reliable, productive pitcher for the Mets.

You never thought he would be a No. 1 type guy, or if you did you were crazy, but there was plenty reason to believe he might slide in comfortably as a No. 3 or 4 type starter for a long time to come.

But as the years went by the injuries took their toll both physically, and, you'd have to think for a guy like Maine who would beat the shit out of himself if he could, mentally.

Until last week against LA he had really looked bad, and the alarm had officially been sounded when calls for starting Dillon Gee or Hisanori Takahashi began to gather steam.

But in his last two starts John Maine has righted himself, and his latest effort came at a time of significant need.

Make no mistake, coming off the weekend debacle in Philly and the disappointing extra innings loss to Cincy on Monday, the game last night was a big one for the Mets.

Fresh off an 8-game winning streak, the last thing the team wanted to do was piss it all away in some extended losing streak, but after the last three days all of the pieces for such a collapse were there.

But in stepped Maine to right the ship, and he gave the Mets everything they needed through the first 6 innings of the game. After "Nightly Nieve" gave up back-to-back homers in the 8th, Maine's effort didn't prove decisive, but it put the team in position to win the game, which it did when Met legend Rod Barajas homered for the millionth time this season.

So yesterday was a big game, and I'm going to put today's game in the same category. They've got an off day tomorrow, so the taste from today's game will last longer than most.

If they win today they come back home with two straight wins and a 3-3 road trip under their belts. If they win today and Philly loses, they come back home in first place.

If they lose today, however, there's no way to look at the road trip as anything but a failure. They were the hottest team in baseball going in to it; to come away with two wins in six games would be tremendously disappointing.

And so we turn the ball over to Jon Niese, who today occupies a similar space to the one I mentioned Maine used to occupy. It would be very "productive 3rd starter-ish" of Niese to go out and get the Mets a win today. Here's hoping he can do it.

Remember the Niese!

- A.F.O.M.G.