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.