John Maine

John Kevin Maine (born May 8, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

He has played for the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets and Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He batted and threw right-handed.

Maine was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

His 25 scoreless innings by a starter was the longest streak since Al Leiter threw 25 scoreless in 1998.

In 2000, while still in college, Maine pitched for the Bethesda Big Train, a summer collegiate baseball team located a few miles outside of Washington D.C.

After graduating from North Stafford High School in Stafford, Virginia, Maine played college baseball for UNC Charlotte, where he was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year in 2001 and set several single-season 49ers' records, including strikeouts and wins.

Maine decided to forgo his senior season at Charlotte and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft.

In 2003, he emerged as one of the top prospects in the minor leagues when he led all minor league pitchers in strikeouts with 185.

He made his debut with the Orioles on July 23, 2004.

After spending the latter half of 2004 and most of 2005 shuffling between Baltimore and Triple-A Ottawa, Maine recorded his first Major League win on August 13, 2005, 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, 2006, along with right-handed reliever Jorge Julio in exchange for starting pitcher Kris Benson.

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 the Washington Nationals and took the loss after giving up four runs on six hits and two walks in 5.1 innings.

He was placed on the injured 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.

With Orlando Hernandez originally slated to start against the Houston Astros, 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'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.

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 earned run average 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 National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Maine pitched 5 shutout innings and defeated defending National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter to force a Game 7.

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

Maine started his 2007 campaign with a win against the Cardinals, holding St. Louis to one hit and no runs in seven innings.

Maine's success against hitters in 2007 continued, and he posted a 15–10 record with a 3.91 ERA with 180 strikeouts in 191.0 innings pitched.

Maine's off-season conditioning program helped him to pitcher deeper into ballgames, and he started to become one of the more dominant pitchers in the National League.

In April, he had a no-hitter through 6 innings against the Florida Marlins before a single by Miguel Cabrera spoiled the bid.