Mets Head to Pittsburgh: Seven-Game Road Trip Begins

Fresh off a 5-1 home stand, in which the Mets took two of three from the Marlins and swept the Nationals, New York will travel to Pittsburgh and Washington this week to complete a seven-game road trip.

Right- Livan Hernandez, will take the hill tonight in search of his fifth win of the season. Hernandez is coming off a complete game win a week ago against the Nationals in which he only surrendered one run.

Despite Hernandez's 4-1 record, he has struggled against the Pirates. While only facing them two times over the last three seasons, he is 0-1 by allowing seven runs on seventeen hits in just over ten innings. He'll need to improve his pitching if the Mets hope to continue their hot streak.

This is a huge seven-game trip for the Mets because they've struggled on the road this season. While they post a 17-9 home record, they are a sluggish 11-12 away from Citi Field. One positive, however, is that they are 8-1 against the Pirates and Nats combined this season, even though all nine of those games were at home.

Opportunity has presented itself for the boys from Queens. They have seven winnable games coming up and have a chance to take control of the East. With the Phillies on their own nine-game road trip with games in San Diego and L.A., this is a fantastic opportunity for the Mets to give themselves a small cushion in the division.

Just to peak ahead, the last three games for the Phillies on their road trip are at Citi Field against the Mets.

*Check out this article and more on the Mets at Metrosports.blogspot.com