Preview/Prediction

After splitting two games in Atlanta, the Mets head to the Nation's Capital to play two with the reeling Nationals. After surprising everyone by getting off to a 20-15 start, the Nationals have lost five in a row to drop to an even 20-20 on the season.

The Mets, on the other hand, couldn't get to 20-20 as they lost last night behind ace Johan Santana. Now they will try and win a couple in D.C. with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey on the mound, taking the spot of the demoted Oliver Perez.

With the news coming in from all over that Nick Johnson will need wrist surgery and will be out until at least July, the Yankees have found themselves without an everyday designated hitter.

Johnson, who was batting an abysmal .167 to begin with, now needs a replacement in the lineup.

Since his departure, the Yankees have been shuffling a bunch of players around and giving their opponents different looks on almost a gamely basis.

The Yankees may not need to go out and get a DH, if they are able to win with the current mix of players they have right now.

Only 3 games back of the red hot Rays

Thursday's matchup is definitely a good one featuring Andy Pettitte and James Shields .

Another hard winner to pick because Pettitte has been so good and Shields has greatly improved since the last time he faced this Yankees lineup.

There are three things that any given ball club can do in order to give it a fighting chance at making the playoffs: score more runs than you allow, have a defense that is not inept, and beat the teams in your division.

Scoring more runs than you allow obviously gives you a game-winning formula night in and night out. It is a simple and obvious concept, but it is hard to execute.

Carl Yastrzemski
Frank Robinson
Mickey Mantle
Ted Williams
Joe Medwick
Lou Gehrig
Jimmie Foxx
Chuck Klein
Rogers Hornsby

Andre Ethier?

The first nine names on this list are those of the men who have won the Triple Crown since the end of the Dead-ball Era.

The tenth is the name of one of baseball's best and brightest young sluggers to emerge in some time.

But does Andre Ethier have what it takes to add his name to the list of baseball legends who succeeded in achieving perhaps baseball's most difficult accomplishment?

Simply stated, the answer is no.

It's always nice to win a game when your team's entire front office comes to visit. You know that when it happens, you're probably going bad. With all the pressure in the world squarely on Jerry Manuel's shoulders, the Mets went out and got a well-earned victory last night.

Now they will try and build upon that win with their ace Johan Santana on the mound in a—in my opinion—must-win game.

Why is a must-win game you ask on the 18th of May?

The Yankees took two of three against the Twins over the weekend, but lost the finale in stinging fashion when Mariano Rivera gave up a grand slam in the eighth inning. New York will have to bounce back from that blow quickly, though, as it welcomes the arch rival Red Sox to Yankee Stadium for a quick two-game set.

The Bombers (24-13) have taken four of six from Boston (19-19) already this season with all of those games being played at Fenway Park.

ATLANTA—Things have gotten so bad for the Mets that their general manager has decided to watch them in person on the road.

After yesterday's 10-8 loss to the Marlins, it was announced that GM Omar Minaya was making the flight to Atlanta to watch his team play.

When a GM of a team heads on the road to see his team, it means one of two things: Either he wants to give his team a vote of confidence, or he's all set to fire his manager if the team continues to lose.

If you think about where the Mets were on April 30 and where they are now, it's almost unexplainable.

On that Friday night, April 30, in Philadelphia, the Mets had just crushed the Phillies 9-1 and won their eighth-in-a-row.

People were wondering, how can the Mets go in to Philly and spank around the two-time defending National League champions? What's up with this new-look Mets team coming off of a 9-1 home stand?

John Maine, after a very slow start to his Oliver Perez-like season, has turned the corner. He has thrown a quality start in each of his last three outings.

His string of successful starts began in game one of a doubleheader at Citi Field against the Dodgers on April 28 where he threw six innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits.

Then on May 4 at the Reds he went six innings, allowing one earned run on four hits. In his last start on Monday against the Nationals, he also went six innings, allowing two runs but was the hard-luck loser.