Losers of 5 straight and 9 of their last 10 games...the Mets return home from an atrocious road trip to take on a team that they might actually be able to hang with- the Washington Nationals. The Mets are 8-4 this year against them; which includes a 5-1 record at Citi Field. Unfortunately, the Mets won't get to see their old teammate Livan Hernandez in this series but they will have to face their nemesis John Lannan- who accounts for two of the four Nats' victories over the Mets this season. The Nationals prior to being swept out of Philadelphia had actually looked semi-competent; going 4-3 in the 7 games before that series. Each team has a mere four wins this month.

If you're keeping track at home by the way, the Mets' tragic number to elimination from the race to the #1 overall pick in the 2010 draft is now 4. A series victory this weekend will do the trick. Meanwhile, the Nationals' magic number to clinching their 2nd straight #1 overall pick is 12.


Pitching Matchups for this series:

Tonight: JD Martin (4-4 4.29 ERA) vs. Mike Pelfrey (10-10 5.09 ERA)
Martin's last start (W 5-3 @ FLA): 5IP, 2ER, 2H, 4BB, 4K
Career vs. NYM: 0-1 11.25 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, .444 BAA in a gane (start)
Road this season: 3-2 3.86 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .224 BAA in 5 games (all starts)
Pelfrey's last start (ND 10-9 @ PHI): 6IP, 8ER, 10H, BB, 3K
Career vs. WAS: 3-4 3.79 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, .275 BAA in 10 games (all starts)
Home this season: 6-3 3.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, .264 BAA in 15 games (all starts)

Saturday: John Lannan (9-11 4.08 ERA) vs. Tim Redding (2-6 5.52 ERA)
Lannan's last start (W 7-2 @ FLA): 5IP, ER, 6H, BB, 3K
Career vs. NYM: 3-3 3.73 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, .271 BAA in 8 games (all starts)
Road this season: 4-9 5.55 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, .286 BAA in 15 games (all starts)
Redding's last start (L 0-1 @ PHI): 6IP, ER, 3H, 2BB, 3K
Career vs. WAS: 2-0 2.37 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, .224 BAA in 4 games (3 starts)
Home this season: 1-3 6.42 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, .261 BAA in 14 games (6 starts)

Sunday: Garrett Mock (3-8 5.89 ERA) vs. John Maine (5-5 4.45 ERA)
Mock's last start (L 0-5 @ PHI): 6IP, 5ER, 7H, 2BB, 2K
Career vs. NYM: 0-0 1.80 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, .222 BAA in 6 games (all in relief)
Road this season: 2-2 4.82 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, .300 BAA in 12 games (6 starts)
Maine's last start (L 4-5 @ PHI): 3IP, ER, 2H, BB, 2K
Career vs. WAS: 7-3 4.52 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .204 BAA in 12 games (all starts)
Home this season: 4-1 2.48 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, .176 BAA in 5 games (all starts)

Will the Mets make fans happy for 3 games? Will Mets fans even show up? Can the Mets score? Will Lannan's recent mastery of the Mets continue? Stay tuned.