“I had nothing on my fastball tonight,” John Maine said.

Although Jerry Manuel said the team will monitor him to see how is arm is tomorrow, Maine said his arm was a little tired tonight and expects to make his next start.

Brian Schneider said Maine was throwing in the low 90s, but his fastball had no movement. Schneider would have been more concerned about a possible injury if his fastball were in the 80s.

Keep you posted.

The way things are playing out, one would figure the wild card will come from the NL Central. I’m thinking the Cardinals will see October. They are such a fundamentally sound team, not prone to make the careless mistakes we’ve seen from the Mets.

They are the middle step between the Yankees and Phillies, two teams always on the Mets’ radar. However, they are not a team to be overlooked.

-Moises Alou’s rehab game in Florida was rained out. Manager Jerry Manuel said if Alou plays in two or three games then he has a good chance to be activated this weekend at Philly.

-Orlando Hernandez, on the DL with a right foot injury, is throwing off the mound in Florida.

-Angel Pagan, on the DL with a bruised left shoulder, could be facing season-ending surgery.

-Manuel said he will be looking to pull Carlos Delgado in favor of Fernando Tatis for defense.

Jose Reyes said “I was mad at myself,” and wasn’t trying to show up Carlos Delgado.

“There are no excuses,” Reyes said. “I made a bad throw.”

Reyes is angry at himself for his defense, saying he’s making too many errors.

Manager Jerry Manuel was more concerned Reyes’ display didn’t come immediately after the play, but at the end of the inning.

To Manuel, that meant the play affected Reyes, which could have made it easier to make another error.

METS

SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
1B Carlos Delgado
RF Ryan Church
LF Endy Chavez
C Brian Schneider
RP John Maine

Coming to you this morning from the airport. Of course, the first thing on my mind is hoping Jose Reyes slept like a baby.

Afterall, he acted like one yesterday.

He does these things because the Mets let him. He loses focus because the Mets don’t do anything about it when he does.

Some players have said Willie Randolph wanted to lean on him harder, but the front office wouldn’t let him.

He’s 25 now and time is running out on reeling in his behavior.

All that optimism generated from the Mets’ last  West Coast trip has been reduced to avoid the sting of being swept at Shea this week. To their rescue rides Coin Flip Perez.

The weather is hot and muggy now, with the rain expected in a couple of hours. There will be some sitting time today.

From the pregame:

-Ryan Church is activated and Trot Nixon placed on the disabled list with a strained groin.

-Nothing official on Moises Alou’s return. He’s supposed to play in a rehab game tomorrow or the next day with the hope of being ready by the Philadelphia series next weekend.

METS

SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
1B Carlos Delgado
RF Ryan Church
LF Endy Chavez
C Brian Schneider
LH Oliver Perez

Despite a 2.08 ERA, Johan Santana is 0-3 in his last four starts. He’s 7-6 overall with a 2.93 ERA. He has pitched better than his record indicates, but for that kind of money the expectations are he has to find a way to win.

A little slow getting this to you today. Please accept my apologies. Here’s some tidbits from Jerry Manuel’s pregame media session:

-Ryan Church rests today and is expected to be activated for tomorrow’s game.

-Moises Alou could play in a rehab game as soon as Monday. Manuel is thinking the Philly series next weekend.

-Luis Castillo’s left thigh is a little stiff.

METS

SS Jose Reyes
2B Damion Easley
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
1B Carlos Delgado
RF Fernando Tatis
LF Andy Phillips
C Ramon Castro
LH Johan Santana

 Here we are at the Stadium, in the first of 18 innings. Pelfrey and Pedro for your team today. The Mets are on the board early with David Wright’s RBI single, which is not a surprise.

The Mets have outscored the opposition by 56 runs over the first three innings of the game. However, they’ve been outscored by 62 runs from the fifth through eighth innings, an indication of their starters losing it and the bullpen never having it. Of course, the offense isn’t blameless there, either.

From the pregame:

-Best case scenario has Ryan Church returning Sunday.

-Jerry Manuel called Carlos Delgado “an enigma.”

-New Met Andy Phillips, who plays first sits while Fernando Tatis, not a first baseman, plays in the first game.

-Jerry Manuel’s decision to start Martinez in the second game was for the fan’s benefit at Shea.

I’ll be with you all day. Take care.

METS

SS Jose Reyes
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright
CF Carlos Beltran
DH Carlos Delgado
RF Trot Nixon
LF Marlon Anderson
1B Fernando Tatis
C Brian Schneider

RH Mike Pelfrey

The last weekend of interleague play for another year.

Most people are numb to it and don’t care. The only passion I have for it is negative. Nothing new there.

The Mets like to talk about turning points and springboards, but always seem to fall back.

I really don’t care about what they do this weekend. What matters is next weekend in Philly.

The Yankees have a better record, but the Mets are closer to first place. Both teams still have issues to solve and teams it must leapfrog.

So, on the eve of Subway Series II, which team has a better chance of playing into October?

Jerry Manuel and Carlos Beltran were both fined by MLB for their conduct Tuesday night and umpire Brian Runge got a one-game suspension.

An apology would have been a nice way to go, but you had to figure it would play out this way.

What’s your take? Are you glad MLB came down on the umpire? Will this help keep umpires from being confrontational?

Did Beltran and Manuel deserve to be fined?