Fresh off their sweep of the rival Atlanta Braves, the Mets look to continue an undefeated homestand as the Houston Astros stroll into Shea. The Mets are 3-0 since coming home and have won 9 of their last 10 overall. They played the Astros in Houston at the beginning of the month and got swept in a 3-game series. Since then, however, the Mets have gone 13-4 and regained control of the NL East, building a 2.5 game lead over the Phillies. The Astros were thinking they could make a serious run for the playoffs themselves a few weeks ago, and they have been playing much better baseball lately going 18-8 since July 23. But the Cubs and Brewers are also playing great ball, and the Astros haven't made up ground. They currently stand 8.5 games behind Milwaukee in the wild card race, and are still chasing 4 other teams as well. Pitching Matchup: Johan Santana (11-7, 2.75 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (11-8, 4.28 ERA) The Mets have their ace going tonight, and that is not in name only. Johan Santana has truly been an ace this year, especially of late. Santana has not lost since June 28, and has an August ERA of 1.84 in 4 starts. His last outing was his best yet in blue and orange, a complete game shutout of the Pirates in which he struck out 7, walked 0 and allowed only 3 hits. Johan started in Houston on August 2, tossing 6 1/3 solid innings and allowing 1 run in a no-decision the Mets eventually lost 5-4. Roy Oswalt is the Astros ace, he is their hottest pitcher and he will face the Mets tonight. Oswalt started this season very shaky, and by June 25 he had a 6-8 record with a 4.77 ERA. But since then he has been the Roy Oswalt of old. He has made 7 starts, going 5-0 in that time frame, and has lowered his earned run average almost a half run to 4.28. And like his counterpart Santana, Oswalt's last start was his best of 2008. He shut the first place Diamondbacks down for 8 innings without allowing a run, striking out a season high 10 and giving up just 1 hit. The Lineup: 1- Jose Reyes, SS 2- Argenis Reyes, 2b 3- David Wright, 3b 4- Carlos Delgado, 1b 5- Carlos Beltran, CF 6- Daniel Murphy, LF 7- Ryan Church, RF 8- Brian Schneider, C 9- Johan Santana, P Rizzi's Rant: I feel totally confident in Johan Santana, but I feel like he is due for a loss. Roy Oswalt gives us trouble and he is a tough pitcher to match up with, so maybe the Mets lose tonight. I mean, you know Kaz Matsui and Ty Wigginton are going to kill us. That's just a fact. And after winning 9 of 10 certainly no one can complain if we do lose. I still have faith though, and with Johan on the hill we always have a good chance. Plus, with Ryan Church finally activated maybe he will provide a spark. I expect the Shea Stadium crowd to give him a huge ovation. Welcome back, Ryan, we have all missed you. If we find a way to beat Oswalt and get a win I will be very, very pumped. The Mets seem to be firing on all cylinders (even in the bullpen recently!), and if we can just take 2 out of 3 from Houston I think we'll be just fine heading into the short series in Philly. The season is down to just 33 games left and we are leading a pennant race. This is why I love baseball so much! Let's Go Mets!!!!!!!!