The Game:

The Mets (5-6) continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Nationals (4-9) this evening at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm EST.

The Lineup:

• SS Jose Reyes
• RF Ryan Church
• 3B David Wright
• CF Carlos Beltran
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• LF Angel Pagan
• C Brian Schneider
• 2B Luis Castillo
• P Mike Pelfrey

…wow, luis to the eight hole…perhaps this is Willie Randolph sending an early season message to castillo…however, i would rather see pagan batting second than church…

The Pitchers:

RHP Mike Pelfrey (1-0, 3.60 ERA) makes his second start of the season for the Mets. In his season debut for the Mets, Pelfrey earned a win against the Phillies, allowing two runs on five hits while walking two and striking out three. In four career starts against the Nationals, Pelfey is 1-1 with a 5.64 ERA.

LHP Odalis Perez (0-2, 4.91 ERA) takes the hill for the Nationals. Perez earned a loss in his last start against the Marlins on ?, allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts. In 16 career appearances, nine starts, against the Mets, Perez is 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA.

…big pelf was sensational in his season debut…he seemed more aggressive with both his fastball and slider, with some credit going Brian Schneider’s way, as he has been calling games aggressively this season…we have seen glimpses of pelfrey’s ability in the past and it all comes down to confidence with him, which his last start should provide him more of…let’s go big pelf…

The Notes:

The Nationals are batting .193 (29-for-150) in their last five games.

Luis Castillo is batting .409 (9-for-22) with a homerun and a triple against Perez in his career.

The Mets are batting .330 versus left-handed pitching this season.

How To Catch It:

Tonight’s game can be seen locally on and heard locally on WFAN.

Talk About the Game:

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…the Mets welcome back two fan favorites today in Paul Lo Duca and Lastings Milledge…i’d imagine both will receive a warm welcome from the shea faithful, as they should…paulie, in many cases, is a fans-player…he’s fiery, plays hard and speaks his mind…and lastings, well, his time was limited with the Mets, but with the outrage of him being traded this off-season, i’d imagine fans will show lmillz the love, if for nothing more than to get under the Mets executives skin…

…as for the Mets, the need to get back on the right track after being derailed by the Brewers over the weekend…the team seemed to lack focus over the weekend after showing signs of getting through an early season slump in the three games prior…

…enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets…