(Best E Casino) - When involved in a tight division race, you need things to go your way every now and then. For the New York Mets, though, things are going only one way -- down.

Already saddled with a lengthy disabled list, the Mets continue to suffer injury after injury. The most concerning is that of closer Billy Wagner, who is experiencing pain in his left forearm. Wagner blew a save on Saturday versus the Astros, allowing two runs and three hits in a 5-4 loss.

Wagner will next undergo an MRI on Tuesday after originally feeling the pain early last week. He converted his 27th save last Tuesday before getting roughed up over the weekend.

"It was making progress," Wagner told his team's official Web site on Sunday. "It was feeling better. But then when I had to go back out there (on Saturday night), it got to the point where I couldn't finish the pitches."

With Wagner out, the Mets will likely have to go to a closer by committee until they know the extent of his injury. Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman would be the logical choices to close out games in Wagner's absence, with Sanchez getting the slight edge due to Heilman taking the loss in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, part of the Mets' current four-game losing streak that has them in third place in the National League East, three games back of first-place Philadelphia.

New York gave itself an interesting option for late in the game on Sunday, when it purchased the contract of Eddie Kunz from Double-A Binghamton. Kunz was drafted in the second round of the 2007 First Year Player draft and saved five games with Single-A Brooklyn in 2007. The right-hander had 27 saves in 44 games with Binghamton this year.

"It's not a really different game," Kunz said on the Mets' site on Sunday. "Heck yeah, there's more fans and all that stuff, but it's still baseball. You're still getting three outs. I've still got to be out there on the mound and do my job."

Unfortunately for the Mets, they needed to make a move to get Kunz on the roster. That came on Sunday when the club put John Maine on the disabled list, retroactive to July 29, due to a strained right rotator cuff.

Maine had his last start skipped due to the ailment and was to pitch this Friday. However, with the Mets in need of an arm due to Wagner's unavailability, the club opted to put Maine on the DL. He will be able to come off the DL on August 13.

Also, Marlon Anderson landed on the disabled list Saturday because of a strained left hamstring, while catcher Ramon Castro suffered a left ankle sprain on Saturday that could sideline him for a few days.

All this for a club that is already without the likes of Moises Alou, Ryan Church, Trot Nixon and Orlando Hernandez.

YOUTH MOVEMENT IN LEFT FIELD

As the trade deadline came and went, Mets manager Jerry Manuel said he was comfortable going with 33-year-old veteran Fernando Tatis in left field and even went as far as to name him the everyday starter.

However, Manuel reversed things recently by saying that rookies Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy would platoon in left. Tatis, meanwhile, will move to right field, where he might eventually be challenged by Church (post-concussion syndrome) once he is healthy.

Tatis, who was out of the majors from 2004-05 before playing with Baltimore in 2006, is hitting .312 in 60 games this year with seven homers and 29 RBI. Evans, meanwhile, is hitting .224 in 21 games this year, while Murphy has one hit in four at-bats over two games.

The 22-year-old Evans was a 29th-round pick in 2006, while Murphy, 23, was grabbed in the 13th round that year.

WHO IS HOT

Carlos Delgado is enjoying a resurgence. He hit .357 in 26 July games with nine homers and 24 RBI on the month. His nine homers were the most in any month since he also blasted nine in April, 2006.

Tatis has hit in 10 straight games, batting .385 (15-for-39) with three doubles, a triple, two homers and seven RBI over the run.

WHO IS NOT

Heilman has lost his last three decisions, allowing seven runs over his last 6 1/3 innings of work.

ON DECK

New York begins a seven-game homestand on Tuesday with three straight against San Diego. Mike Pelfrey (9-7, 3.91 ERA) throws the opener versus Chris Young (4-4, 4.12), while Pedro Martinez (3-2, 6.16) follows against Cha Seung Baek (3-6, 5.22). Thursday's finale pits Johan Santana (9-7, 2.86) versus Josh Banks (3-4, 3.65).

The Mets follow with three against the Marlins before a makeup game against the Pirates.