LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- More than a fortnight has passed since John Maine first berated himself, condemning his performance against Team Italy in a World Baseball Classic tuneup. Maine's results since have only drifted downward; his psyche cracked only more. But there is one thing, at least, keeping his confidence afloat.

"The difference was the ball didn't feel right coming out of my hand," Maine said of his outing against the Italians. "It feels fine coming out of my hand now. I'm just making the wrong pitches in the worst possible situations."

Those pitches on Saturday resulted in three walks and six hits against the Braves, who turned the glut of baserunners into five earned runs. That's a far worse line than Maine produced against Italy, which didn't even score against him over two innings on March 5. Maine has allowed 14 runs over the three ensuing starts, a span of 11 innings.

His procedure, perhaps, has improved, which is the reason for Maine's optimism. But the results have not, which was the reason on Saturday for his typical dose of pessimism.

"It is frustrating," Maine said. "Of course I want to put up zeros, but that's not happening. I'm just trying to keep it in perspective. I'm out there, and I'm trying to work on things."

Some consolation comes from the fact that Yunel Escobar's single in the third inning, which helped spark a four-run rally, glanced off first baseman Nick Evans' glove before shooting down the right-field line. Had Evans caught it -- and he would have, manager Jerry Manuel said, if Evans had not been holding the catcher on first base -- then the inning would have ended, and Maine might have been looking back at the finest start of his spring.

Perhaps then his feelings and his results would have meshed, rather than create yet another round of contradictions.

"I think for the most part, John Maine's getting better and better with each outing," Manuel said. "The results, the line score -- those things just might not show it."

What's not vexing for Maine is the fact that he still hasn't reclaimed all the velocity he had prior to offseason surgery to shave a bony growth from his right shoulder. Maine hit 95 mph on the radar gun at Disney's Wide World of Sports on Saturday -- which is plenty -- and said that even more velocity will come in time.

More of an issue is where he's been placing that fastball: right down the middle. That, combined with a flat slider and Evans' defensive positioning, is what worked against him Saturday.

"I think he's healthy," Manuel said. "And that's the thing I think we're concerned with."

"I've pushed it so hard since the surgery," Maine said. "It's just frustrating, because I did work so hard to come back and pitch."

Part of that process included incorporating a curveball into his repertoire, a pitch that Maine has subsequently scrapped and revisited. Saturday saw him throw about five curves, after an outing in which he threw none.

Two were good, Maine said. Two were bad. The rest must have been forgettable.

It's all worn on Maine's psyche, which is to be expected from one of the team's most self-critical players. Always ready to launch into a diatribe of why he hasn't been as successful as he expects to be, Maine admitted on Saturday that the weight of all that has troubled him.

"It's taken a little bit of a toll," Maine said. "It just seems even though the numbers aren't there, there just seems to be two or three different pitches that I just don't execute. Those are the ones that end up hurting me."

Two more Grapefruit League starts remain for him, likely followed by some sort of tuneup back in New York. And so Maine has two more chances to make things mesh.

Against Italy, the results were better than the process. Against the Braves, the process was better than the results. He is searching for a way to make them equate.

"The last couple of starts," Maine said, "I'll be trying to get back to normal."

Mets bits: Nelson Figueroa, vying for a long relief job in the Mets' bullpen, allowed five runs in one inning on Saturday, raising his Grapefruit League ERA to 11.25. Figueroa endeared himself to Mets general manager Omar Minaya during the World Baseball Classic, pitching 7 1/3 scoreless innings for Puerto Rico -- including 3 2/3 frames against Team USA. ... Infielder Jose Valentin was a late scratch from Saturday's lineup with a stiff neck. He is day-to-day.