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Maine takes on Braves for first time as Mets aim for series win

Aug 9, 2007 - 1:33 PM Atlanta (60-54) at NY Mets (64-49) 12:10 pm EDT

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Other than Oliver Perez, the New York Mets' starters have not fared well against the Atlanta Braves. That is except for John Maine, who has yet to faced them.

Maine gets his first taste of the rivalry between the Mets and the Braves in the rubber game of a three-game series on Thursday.

Luis Castillo hit a game-tying, two-run single in the seventh inning and Moises Alou hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth on Wednesday as New York beat Atlanta for just the fourth time in 11 meetings, 4-3. Orlando Hernandez threw seven solid innings, but did not figure in the decision, making Perez the only Mets starter to beat the Braves this season.

Maine (12-6, 3.27 ERA) will try to join that list, and bounce back after enduring his worst start of the season. On Saturday, he gave up six runs and four hits in a season-low 2 2/3 innings of a 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Prior to that forgettable outing, Maine had been 6-1 with a 2.73 ERA in his last eight starts.

Tim Hudson (12-5, 2.95), who is unbeaten in his last nine starts, gets the ball for Atlanta. Hudson has been magnificent of late, stringing together 14 straight scoreless innings after holding the Colorado Rockies to just five hits in seven frames in a 6-4 win on Saturday.

Hudson will likely have a bit of trouble with Carlos Delgado, who is hitting .304 (14-for-46) with five homers and eight RBI against the righthander.

With Wednesday's loss, Atlanta slipped into third place in the National League East, 4 1/2 games behind New York. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies (60-53) moved within four games of the division lead with a 6-4 win over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday.