The Mets' ship may be sinking like lead but Tim Redding is doing his best to secure himself work for the 2010 season. On July 17, Redding had a 7.22 ERA after allowing a run on three hits in two-thirds of an inning of relief against the Braves. Since then, Redding has allowed 15 earned runs in 37.2 innings -- a 3.58 ERA -- and has lowered his season ERA to a better-but-still-terrible 5.70. Tonight he allowed two runs on seven hits and a walk in 6.2 innings, striking out six and throwing 74 of 114 pitches for strikes.

On the negative side of the pitching ledger for the Mets was Brian Stokes, who had his second disastrous outing in his last three appearances, coughing up three runs on three hits and three walks -- one intentional -- in just a third of an inning. By tomorrow, Jerry Manuel will surely have forgotten who Stokes is, but let's hope that a couple of lousy relief efforts don't ruin what has been an otherwise solid season and great second half. Prior to his suckfest in Chicago over the weekend, Stokes had allowed just one run in his previous 23 appearances. He's not a superstar by any means, but he's a solid bullpen arm and makes practically no money at all, which is exactly the sort of player a smart team should hang onto to fill out their bullpen.

Offensively, the Mets managed just five hits and a walk against Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales. Jeff Francoeur had one of those hits -- a solo homerun in the fourth -- but also contributed a double-play grounder in the first and saw just ten pitches in four times to the plate. Jimenez threw just 109 pitches in eight innings as the Mets' hitters constantly pounded his offerings into the ground. In all, Jimenez recorded 15 ground outs to just five flyouts, a recipe for success in the thin air of Coors Field.

The Mets used four pinch-hitters tonight, none of them named Josh Thole.

Thursday's game is an afternooner, as Pat Misch makes his second start against Jason Marquis. Game time is 3:10pm EDT, and Josh Thole is set to make his big league debut.

Haiku by Howard Megdal

Redding sharp again
Francoeur homers, but offense
Stops there; Stokes implodes

Swag Contest

Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Purple Row Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Tim Redding, +19.0% WPA, Jeremy Reed, +6.8% WPA
Big losers: Brian Stokes, -37.3% WPA, Fernando Tatis, -10.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francoeur solo homerun in fourth, +12.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Giambi two-run single in eighth, -18.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -12.2% WPA
Total batter WPA: -37.8% WPA
GWRBI!: Jason Giambi

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Ballonthewall; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.