The Mets ... this will probably go badly

We kick off a three-gamer with the Mets tonight at 7. The Mets have a slim 3 game lead over the Braves in the NL East right now and could probably use some wins to distance themselves from the pack. Enter the Pittsburgh Pirates. We just lost two of three from the lowly Astros. Not getting swept this week would be an accomplishment. If you're up for some extra curricular reading, I've previewed the Pirates pitching staff for Mets fans over at Mets Today. In return, Joe from Mets Today answered a couple questions for me that I will post on Thursday (oh whatever could the questions have been about?).

Ian Snell starts today against John Maine. Maine has very good this year. That's bad, because we make bad pitchers look good. Snell has slipped a bit since the break, looking a bit more like he did last year. He's given up five homers in two starts and four of those five have been by left-handed hitters. He's got to stem the tide right now, because his big leap this year has mostly been rooted in keeping the ball in the park and getting lefties out. He'll definitely be angry because of the sign stealing thing, and when Snell's angry, Snell usually pitches well.

Ian, why would anyone need to steal signs with you on the mound? Talk about excess.