Next, the Mets (4-4) face the Milwaukee Brewers (6-3), who own the National League’s best record. Last season, Milwaukee battled the Chicago Cubs for supremacy in the NL Central and finished just short. As a team, they have a balanced attack that many teams would envy. Their offense, led by Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun, is pretty potent, especially if several youngsters continue to develop. Second, their starting pitching has been quite good thus far, thanks to strong starts from Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan. Their biggest weakness might be their bullpen, anchored by Eric Gagne, which has looked shaky at times.

Rookie Manny Parra (1-0, 3.38) starts the opener for the Brew Crew, while former Brewer Nelson Figueroa (0-0, 9.00) gets his first start in four years. Sheets (1-0, 0.00) and Johan Santana (1-1, 1.93) pitch Saturday in what should be a pitcher’s duel. Finally, Suppan (1-0, 2.03) and Oliver Perez (1-0, 0.00) face off in Sunday’s finale.

Game 1: Manny Parra, LHP

What’s the Story? The Brewers’ 26th round draft choice back in 2001, Parra advanced quickly through the system until 2005, when he was derailed by rotator cuff problems that eventually led to surgery. He returned in 2006 and responded by pitching better than he did before the surgery. He pitched for three levels in 2007, ending the season on the big club before a broken thumb sidelined him. The 25-year-old has a very good four-seam fastball that tops off around 95 but most often sits in the low-90’s. His two-seamer comes in a shade slower, and he also features a good hard curve, a splitter, and an improving change-up.

Last Year: Parra didn’t start against the Mets, but he did make a long relief appearance against them on August 1st and pitched tremendously after Claudio Vargas bombed. He went six-and-a-third innings and allowed just one run on four hits and a walk. Most impressively, he struck out eight Mets.

What to Expect: Parra could be a very difficult pitcher for the Mets’ lefty-dominated lineup. According to his minor league profile, Parra’s a hard-throwing strikeout pitcher who doesn’t give up homeruns and has good control. In the bigs, however, he’s shown extreme flyball tendencies and mediocre control, something he’ll have to watch if he wants to maintain his success. He’ll throw a lot of early-count fastballs, while saving the curve and change as an out-pitch against lefties and righties, respectively. He’ll mix in the occasional splitter, but I wouldn’t count on very many.

Game 2: Ben Sheets, RHP

What’s the Story? While many in Milwaukee hoped that Ben Sheets’s injury problems were behind him after coming back from a back injury in the second half of 2006, he didn’t quite escape the injury bug last year. A freak finger injury limited him to just 141.3 innings last season, and health will continue to be a major question for Sheets in 2008. Furthermore, Sheets’s numbers declined; he saw an increase in walks allowed and his strikeout rate took a substantial dip. It’ll be interesting to see if that trend continues. When he’s fully healthy, his stuff is frightening: a mid-90’s four-seam fastball, a low-90’s sinking two-seamer, a tremendous hard curve that comes in 75-78, and an above average change-up. Furthermore, his command is unrivaled when he’s a hundred percent.

Last Year: Sheets started against the Mets on May 12th and did okay. He went six innings and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out five.

What to Expect: Sheets is coming off a 109-pitch shutout of a terrible Giants team during which he looked like vintage Sheets. He allowed just five hits and struck out eight while walking no one. If the 2004 version of Ben Sheets shows up again on Saturday and Santana looks sharp, it could be one of the best pitching duels of the year. He’ll pound his fastball to the outside part of the plate to righties, and he won’t be afraid to pitch lefties inside with the four-seamer. The most interesting development from Sheets last year was his reliance on his two-seamer, something that was an afterthought in the past. It turned him into more of a “finesse” guy. It doesn’t appear he threw many his last time out, working almost exclusively with his fastball-curve combo.

Game 3: Jeff Suppan, RHP

What’s the Story? Suppan signed with the Brewers after the 2006 season, and he performed more or less to expectations in 2007. Like last season when he went 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA over the first month, Suppan is off to an excellent start again this year. The epitome of a slop pitcher, Suppan rarely touches 90 with his fastball, but he also throws a mid-80’s sinking fastball, a good slider, a fair change, and a decent curveball. When he’s pitching well, the sinker will get him some groundball outs, and he’ll change speeds well enough to sufficiently frustrate hitters.

Last Year: Suppan made two starts against the Mets in 2008. The first came on May 11th, when he allowed four runs in six innings. Half of the six hits he allowed went for extra bases, including homeruns to David Wright and Carlos Delgado. His second start came on July 31st, when he was more effective. Suppan allowed two runs over six-and-a-third innings despite not striking out a single batter. His sinker was particularly effective, resulting in 15 groundballs.

What to Expect: As I said, Suppan’s a finesse pitcher, and you can expect pretty much any pitch on any count, at least if his command is sharp and all his pitches are working. He’ll only throw his fastball about half the time, consistently working in his change-up and breaking pitches. The key will be to take a few pitches and hope that Suppan falls behind—hitters hit .354/.434/.559 against Suppan once he fell behind 1-0.

Overall: I’m picking the Brewers to take the first and third games of this series with the Mets winning the middle game. While Nelson Figueroa’s breaking ball is still a quality pitch, I’m not sure the rest of his stuff is strong enough to be an effective starter. Meanwhile, as I mentioned, Parra could be a very difficult pitcher for the Mets to hit. While Sheets is pitching very well, the Mets’ offense is not the Giants’ and with Johan on the hill, I think there’s a legitimate chance the Mets beat the Brewers. Finally, Ollie won’t keep throwing zeros all season long—he’s due for a rough outing. So, Mets only win one out of three.