On the Mets beat

The biggest news this afternoon is that Pedro Martinez visited the hospital Friday night to get hooked up to an IV and also had a CT scan done of his abdomen to check for an appendix problem.The test was negative -- Martinez's appendix looked fine -- but he was late arriving to Wrigley today and did not speak with reporters. The plan is now for him to skip the Cincinnati series entirely and the earliest he could start would be the following weekend at Shea, if then.

Jose Reyes is still out, Carlos Beltran is in the starting lineup despite knee tendinitis, and Endy Chvaez has replaced Xavier Nady in right.

The Mets also signed Edgardo Alfonzo to a minor-league contract. Here's the information from the team's news release:

METS SIGN FORMER MET EDGARDO ALFONZO TO A MINOR LEAGUE CONTRACT

The New York Mets announced today that they have signed former Met Edgardo Alfonzo to a minor league contract. Alfonzo, who played with the Mets from 1995-2002, will join Norfolk (AAA) of the International League on Monday on the road in Indianapolis.

Edgardo was playing with the Independent League Bridgeport (CT) Bluefish in the Atlantic League. He had appeared in four games as the designated hitter after signing on July 7th. The 5-11, 210-pounder was batting .286 (4-14) with a run scored, two doubles, four RBI, three walks and one strikeout.

Alfonzo, 32, began this season with the Los Angeles Angels. In 18 games he batted .100 (5-50) with a run scored, a double, one RBI, with two walks and three strikeouts. He was released by the Angels on May 21st and signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays on May 25th.

Edgardo appeared in three games at second base for New Hampshire (AA) of the Eastern League where he was 0-8 with two walks before he was recalled by Toronto.

In 12 contests with the Blue Jays, Edgardo hit .162 (6-37) with four runs scored, a double, four RBI, with five walks and one strikeout. He was released by the Toronto on June 12th.

Alfonzo batted .277 (102-368) with 36 runs scored, 17 doubles, a triple, two home runs, 43 RBI along with 27 walks and 34 strikeouts in 109 games in 2005 with the San Francisco Giants.

Edgardo ranks third on Mets All-Time Hit List with 1,136, seventh on the All-Time Home Run List with 120, fifth on All-Time RBI List with 538 and ninth on the All-Time Games Played List with 1,086. He hit .324 (176-544) with 40 doubles, 25 home runs and 94 RBI in 2000 and helped the Mets advance to the World Series. Alfonzo was also named to the National League All-Star team that season.

During Alfonzo’s 11-year major league career, he has batted .284 (1,532-5,385) with 777 runs scored, 282 doubles, 18 triples, 146 home runs, 744 RBI, 53 stolen bases with 596 walks and 617 strikeouts in 1,506 major league games.