Not sure that this will affect his start tonight, but Livan Hernandez has been mentioned in a case against a drug dealer in Puerto Rico.

From the Miami Herald:

Vázquez Ayala was arrested after a seven-year investigation and was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute drugs in Puerto Rico. According to the source, Hernández’s name came up on various occasions when reviewing the properties linked to the drug trafficker.

Funny, I still have a subconscious urge to type “Expos” when I need to type “Nationals”. Go figure.

Here is tonight’s Mets lineup against Expos Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez.

Jose Reyes – SS
Daniel Murphy – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Carlos Beltran – RF
Jason Bay – LF
Ike Davis – 1B
Josh Thole – C
Willie Harris – CF
Chris Capuano – P

Looks like the matchup game, with Willie Harris in center. Can’t really argue with that choice, since Harris hasn’t been getting many at-bats lately and you need to keep the bench guys fresh. I might prefer Nickeas behind the plate since he and Capuano worked so well together five days ago, but I guess it’s more important to get Thole’s LH bat in the lineup.

With all the ballyhoo about Jose Reyes’ headfirst slide into third last night and the ensuing discussion about whether it’s safer / smarter / faster to slide head- or feet-first, here are some interesting points.

First, a mechanical engineer came to the conclusion that sliding head-first was faster.

Though, other researchers — including a physicist — saw no significant difference between the two methods.

But what about the opinion of someone who has actually been on a baseball field and done some sliding? Here is what Davey Lopes — one of the all-time great basestealers — had to say in an article published on MLB.com a few weeks back:

Former Met reliever Roger McDowell is under investigation by MLB for allegedly threatening fans in San Francisco with a baseball bat and verbally assaulting them with homophobic slurs

You can read all the gory details