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Maine aims for National League-best 11th win

Jul 13, 2007 - 2:05 PM Cincinnati (36-53) at NY Mets (49-39) 7:10 pm EDT

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- John Maine takes the mound as he hopes that the second half of the season goes as smoothly as the first.

Maine (10-4, 2.71 ERA) will be looking for his National League-leading 11th win as the New York Mets take the mound against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

New York, which opened the season by winning 34 of its first 51 games, won the opener of the four-game series, 3-2, behind homers from Jose Reyes and Ruben Gotay and a strong start from Orlando Hernandez.

It was just the third win in the last two weeks for the Mets, who had dropped six of eight games prior to the All-Star break.

Now, Maine, who has been the team's most reliable starter, will try to get them rolling once again. In his last start, the 26-year-old righthander allowed two runs and six hits in 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts in a 6-2 win at the Houston Astros on July 5.

Maine will be opposed by Aaron Harang (9-2, 3.67), who has been the lone bright spot for the worst team in the majors.

Harang was solid in his last start, allowing one run and six hits with eight strikeouts in eight innings but did not figure in a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.

The Reds had a four-game winning streak snapped with Thursday's setback.