And to top it all off, I got a sunburn

Even more disappointing than winning just two of three from the Pirates is splitting a four-game series with the Nationals. As has happened so often this season, the New York bats were shut down by some less than distinguished starting pitchers. The Mets got excellent starting pitching from Orlando Hernandez and John Maine in games two and four, respectively, but Jorge Sosa and Mike Pelfrey failed to shut the Nats down in one and three.

The offense continued to suffer from a distinct lack of Carlos Beltran, who may soon hit the disabled list, though Lastings Milledge did a solid job in his stead. Also beneficial to the offensive cause were the return of Moises Alou and an injury to Paul Lo Duca. Alou had just one hit in the series, a double on Friday. Ramon Castro started two games and went three for seven with a double and a home run. Lo Duca hit two singles in seven at bats, strained his hamstring and is threatening to be back by Tuesday so that he can catch Tom Glavine's potential 300th win. Altogether, the Mets put up just fifteen runs in three and a half games, including Sunday's rain-shortened win, against Washington's below average pitching staff.

My Shea Stadium experience was somewhat more pleasant than the Mets' as I got to see a 3-1 win from the front row of the upper deck without a drop of rain on Saturday afternoon. Of course, in lieu of rain, we got plenty of sun, heat and humidity. If the people building CitiField could figure out a way to air condition an outdoor stadium, I would really appreciate it.

Next up for the Mets (59-46) is a tough six-game road trip that begins in Milwaukee against the Central division-leading Brewers (57-49) who have lost three straight. Glavine (9-6, 4.51 in 2007; 299-197, 3.49 career) will take on Jeff Suppan (8-9, 5.08) in the opener on Tuesday. Oliver Perez (9-7, 2.84) vs. Dave Bush (8-8, 4.91) and Sosa (7-6, 4.59) vs. Claudio Vargas (9-2, 4.30) will be the matchups in games two and three. The Mets' division lead stands at 3.5 games over the Phillies, who will also spend the week playing the Cubs (55-48) and Brewers.