John Maine

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John Maine bigraphy, stories - American baseball player

John Maine : biography

May 8, 1981 –

John Kevin Maine (born May 8, 1981) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played for the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets. He bats and throws right-handed.

Professional career

Baltimore Orioles

Maine decided to forgo his senior season at Charlotte and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round of the baseball amateur draft. In 2003, he led all minor league pitchers in strikeouts, with 185.http://minors.baseball-reference.com/pitch_leaders.cgi?yid=2003&lvl=&lid=&sort=SO Long considered a top prospect after two years in the minor leagues, Maine made his debut with the Orioles on July 23, 2004. After spending the latter half of and most of 2005 shuffling between Baltimore and Triple-A Ottawa, Maine recorded his first Major League win on August 13, , at Camden Yards with a 1–0 shutout victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in which he started and pitched five innings.

Maine was traded to the Mets on January 21, , along with right-handed reliever Jorge Julio in exchange for starting pitcher Kris Benson.

New York Mets

He was called up from Triple A Norfolk in early May 2006 after rookie Brian Bannister was put on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. Maine started on May 2 against Washington and took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. He was placed on the disabled list on May 6 with inflammation of his right middle finger, which he says hurt his May 2 start. He was reactivated on June 12 and was optioned back to Triple A Norfolk.

On July 3, he was recalled from the minors and became part of the Mets’ starting rotation. After a solid, if mediocre start off the DL, Maine had a start that could be said to have turned around his career. Starting pitcher Orlando Hernandez was originally supposed to start against the Houston Astros, but early rain caused the Mets to put in Maine instead. He pitched a complete game shutout. That start continued a scoreless innings streak. Maine pitched a scoreless inning in relief, and then 22 scoreless innings over three starts, recording two wins and a no decision over that span. After his second scoreless outing, Mets manager Willie Randolph designated Maine as the rotation’s fifth starter over higher-ranking prospect Mike Pelfrey.

Maine delivering a pitch in July 2006 against the [[Houston Astros, en route to a complete game shutout during his scoreless innings streak.]]

Maine’s scoreless-inning streak reached 26 innings before he allowed a run. Against Washington on August 12, Maine retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced before Nick Johnson hit a solo home run. The streak fell 5 innings short of Jerry Koosman’s Mets franchise record. His streak was the longest ever by a Mets rookie starter, exceeding Dwight Gooden and Anthony Young’s 23-inning streaks by two. His 25 scoreless innings by a starter was the longest streak since Al Leiter threw 25 scoreless in .

On September 29, 2006, in his final at-bat of the season, Maine recorded his first major league hit, ending a streak of twenty-eight hitless at-bats.

Overall, Maine went 6–5 with a 3.60 ERA in 15 starts in his debut season for the Mets showing flashes of dominance such as his scoreless innings streak. His efforts helped the Mets win the National League Eastern Division. Despite his solid season, he was originally not expected to make a start in the postseason. However, after injuries sidelined both Pedro Martínez and Orlando Hernández, Maine found himself starting Game 1 of the National League Division Series for the Mets. In that game, he pitched 4 innings and got a no-decision. The Mets went on to win that game to give them a 1–0 lead in the Division series against the Dodgers. In the must win game 6 of the NLCS against the Cardinals Maine went 5 and defeated defending Cy Young award winner in the National League Chris Carpenter to force a game 7.

Maine went to the 2006 Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series along with teammates José Reyes and David Wright.