An early day game after a night game prompted Willie Randolph to rest several of his older regulars in the series finale here against the Dodgers. Carlos Delgado, Moises Alou and Brian Schneider are all getting the day off as the Mets try to snap a two-game skid behind starter John Maine, who will take on LA right-hander Brad Penny.
Also, Luis Castillo is back in the No. 2 spot because the bottom half of the lineup is light and Randolph needs Ryan Church hitting fifth behind Carlos Beltran.
The lineup for the 16-15 Mets reads thusly:
Jose Reyes SS
Luis Castillo 2B
David Wright 3B
Carlos Beltran CF
Ryan Church RF
Angel Pagan LF
Marlon Anderson 1B
Raul Casanova C
John Maine RHP (3-2, 3.48)
The 19-14 Dodgers are looking for their 13th win in the past 15 games and can’t wait to see what rookie third baseman Blake DeWitt will do next after his inside-the-park homer Tuesday.
Joe Torre is going with this look today:
Juan Pierre LF
Andre Ethier CF
Matt Kemp RF
Jeff Kent 2B
James Loney 1B
Russell Martin 2B
Blake DeWitt 3B
Chin-lung Hu SS
Brad Penny RHP (5-2, 3.19)
