Tonight's Preview

Over at ABC 6, they give a nice preview of the Mets and Cardinals:

Maine will try to help the Mets gain a sweep of its season-opening series for the first time in 13 years when they meet the St. Louis Cardinals, the team that eliminated them in last year's seven-game NL championship series.

The right-hander pitched well in the postseason for New York, going 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in three starts. His lone win came against St. Louis in Game 6 of the NLCS, when he outpitched Chris Carpenter and threw 5 1-3 shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out five in a 4-2 victory that forced Game 7.

Maine secured a spot in the Mets' 2007 rotation in spring training, working on his hitting, bunting, defense and stamina to improve on last season's 6-5 mark and 3.60 ERA in 16 games.

Braden Looper makes his first career start after spending his first nine seasons as a reliever, including stints as the Mets' closer in the 2004-05 seasons.

The right-hander, who joined St. Louis prior to last season, went 9-3 with a 3.56 ERA in 69 appearances as a middle reliever for the Cards in 2006. Looper has only pitched three innings or more three times in his career, most recently in 2004.