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Maine hopes to help Mets avoid first sweep

Jun 7, 2007 - 1:55 PM Philadelphia (29-29) at Ny Mets (35-22) 7:10 pm EDT

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- John Maine will be the man in charge of making sure the New York Mets avoid suffering their first three-game series sweep of the season.

Maine takes the mound as the Mets wrap up a series with the National League East Division rival Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The righthanded Maine (6-3, 2.81 ERA) is looking to build on two good outings. He has allowed two runs in each of his last two starts after allowing a season-high five runs against the Yankees on May 20.

On Friday, Maine allowed two runs and five hits in six innings in a 5-1 loss to Arizona.

Meanwhile, the Phillies counter with budding ace Cole Hamels (8-2, 3.55), who leads the National League in wins. The lefthander is coming off an impressive complete game performance against San Francisco on Saturday, when he allowed just two runs and five hits with five strikeouts.

The Mets' offense has failed give their starters much run support, scoring just seven runs in their last five games. New York fell, 4-2, on Wednesday as Jimmy Rollins hit a go-ahead three-run homer off Aaron Heilman in the seventh inning.