Pitcher of the Week


2000 CGL Alumni – John Maine

Maine, Mets handle Nats
Mets 6, Nationals 3
Date published: 5/14/2008
BY RICH CAMPBELL

NEW YORK--
Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta didn't hold back before yesterday's game when the subject of conversation turned to New York Mets starter John Maine.

'I think John is one of the toughest guys and has made a tremendous amount of progress since the Mets got him from Baltimore [in January 2006],' Acta said. 'You could consider him a legit No. 2 guy in our division. He's as tough as it gets.'

And that was before Maine shut the Nationals down last night.
The Stafford native surrendered two runs on only two hits in six innings and benefited from a key miscue by Washington right fielder Austin Kearns to lead the Mets to a 6-3 win last night at Shea Stadium.
'I thought I did a good job of locating pitches,' Maine said. 'I just don't know how to explain it.'

Well, Maine can let his recent performances do the talking for him. Exhibitions like the one he put on last night have become the norm. At this point, it's more newsworthy when he pitches poorly.
He continues to build on the breakout season he enjoyed last year, when he went 15-10 and established career highs in wins and strikeouts (180 in 191 innings). Five days after his 27th birthday, Maine (5-2) won his fourth consecutive start--each after a Mets loss.

Take a guess at which New York starter has the most wins and the lowest ERA on the staff. Former two-time unanimous Cy-Young Award winner Johan Santana? Nope. It's Maine. John's been our most consistent starter,' Mets manager Willie Randolph said. 'He's throwing the heck out of the ball.' Maine has now gone seven consecutive starts without allowing more than two runs. No Mets pitcher has done that since Masato Yoshii in 1999.

His first pitch of the night slammed into the right thigh of Nationals second baseman Felipe Lopez. After the hullabaloo that resulted from former Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa's comments Monday night about the Nationals cheering in the dugout, it seemed as though this game could get ugly.

But Maine eventually settled in. The two-run home run he gave up to Ryan Zimmerman in the third allowed Washington to take a 2-1 lead, but that was the last hit he gave up. He threw his change up a lot more tonight,' Zimmerman said. 'He's usually fastball-slider, especially to righties, and mixes in some change ups. His fastball is sneaky. You've got to be ready for his fastball.'

A Nationals offense that came to life with 10 runs and 10 hits on Monday night went back into hiding. They managed only four hits all game. As usual, [Maine] went out there and gave them a good effort,' Acta said. 'We just couldn't get anything going. We had a couple of chances and couldn't come through.'