Defeat the Empire

Hell, the west coast is always tough. Taking 4 of 7 out there isn't bad, especially 2 of 3 at former Pac Bell Park, where the Mets win about 20% of the time.

Turner Field is tougher.

The Mets got Atlanta at Shea about ten days ago, and despite Atlanta having Chipper Jones, Edgar Renteria, and Marcus Giles out of the lineups, the only win the Mets could muster was when Pedro Martinez opposed Jorge Sosa.

So as other fans cry "SWEEP!", I sing a different tune: win one game.

Last year, the Mets went 1-8 at Turner Field, the lone being being a dramatic comeback in the sixth game of the season. That's a winning percentage of 11%. If the Mets can go 3-6 at Turner this year, that's a 33% winning percentage and a large improvement over 2005.

The Mets made a smart move in the leadup to this series, using a scheduled off day to their advantage. Pedro will go Friday on five days rest, then Tom Glavine on four days rest, and Sunday will be Steve Trachsel on four days of rest. Victor Zambrano is skipped, which is good on many levels: a) he's bad and throwing him up against the Braves symbolizes a white flag, and b) Trachsel and Glavine are better on four days rest than on five.

The Braves will pitch two of their best three pitchers on Friday and Saturday in John Smoltz and John Thomson, and Kyle Davies is scheduled to throw on Sunday.