On the Mets beat

The tarp is up and the game is set to resume at 7:10. Ppedro Feliciano will be facing Ryan Howard with a runner on first and third and one out in the bottom of the eighth. The Mets are leading 1-0.

Marcus Henry

Hello everyone. Rod Boone here in for our guy David Lennon. He's feeling a bit under the weather today, so I'm pinch hitting for him.

One quick note: Pedro Martinez has arrived. He just spoke to the media and was bursting with excitement. He said he feels the Mets owe the fans something for the way things ended last year and is looking forward to injecting a little personality into the clubhouse and keep the team loose. Rather than going Tuesday in San Francisco, his preference would have been to start Sunday's game if it was up to him because he wanted to make his return in front of the home fans. Erik Boland is writing the story on "Petey" later so look out for that.

Ok, here's the lineups:

Mets (26-26)
Reyes SS
Castillo 2B
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Tatis RF
Castro C
Delgado 1B
Evans LF
Maine P

Dodgers (26-27)
Pierre LF
Kemp CF
Kent 2B
Loney 3B
Martin C
Ethier RF
DeWitt 3B
Maza SS
Kershaw P

METS (6-6)
1-Reyes SS
2-Church RF
3-Wright 3B
4-Beltran CF
5-Delgado 1B
6-Pagan LF
7-Schneider C
8-Castillo 2B
9-Maine P

NATIONALS (4-10)
1-Guzman SS
2-Belliard 2B
3-Zimmerman 3B
4-Johnson 1B
5-Milledge CF
6-Kearns RF
7-Pena LF
8-Estrada C
9-Chico P

Luis Castillo's right knee will be an ongoing issue. It's still bothering him, and Willie said he and Castillo agreed that they will talk often and Castillo will tell him when he needs a day off. Sounds like he'll play 2 or 3 games in a row and then sit one. Willie also says he likes Castillo hitting eighth because he has speed and is selective.

I also spoke with Brian Schneider about his trouble with catching the ball - he said he was using a new glove model this year for the first time in 10 or 11 years, and he never got comfortable with it. He said it got to the point where catching the ball became something he was thinking about, and that was it for him. So he "shut it down" - his words - in the seventh inning Sunday and went back to old faithful.

BY RODERICK BOONE

Here's the lineups folks. Enjoy. I'll be your bogging tour guide and will be back a little later.

METS (5-5)
Pagan LF
Castillo 2B
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Delgado 1B
Church RF
Easley SS
Schneider C
Perez P

BREWERS (7-4)
Weeks 2B
Kapler CF
Braun LF
Fielder 1B
Hall 3B
Hart RF
Hardy SS
Suppan P
Kendall C

By ERIK BOLAND

In his meeting with reporters a few minutes ago, Willie Randolph said Mets second baseman Luis Castillo would sit again tonight with a sore knee. He said it would be up to Castillo as to when he would be ready to return. Also, Raul Casanova makes his season debut at catcher; his season debut, period. The lineup:

Reyes SS
Pagan LF
Wright 3B
Beltran CF
Delgado 1B
Easley 2B
Church RF
Casanova C
Figueroa P

It is cold and damp with a light mist falling at the moment but they are expected to play. Rod Boone will be taking over later as our live blogger.

...is very excited to be pitching today. It's a very warm day in Cincinnati, should be in the 90s at game time.

Carlos Beltran made a catch in the 14th inning of last night’s game that had to be seen to be believed.
Haven’t seen the highlight yet? You will. Imagine the Mets centerfielder running full speed toward a fence 436 feet from home plate and then having to run up a steep incline because Minute Maid Park has a hill in dead center and then imagine him catching it while falling down.
With the tying run on second and two out, Beltran did all that on Luke Scott’s drive. He misses it, the game’s over.
And then, for good measure, Beltran drove in the go-ahead run in the 17th inning as the Mets won, 5-3, in their longest game in innings since 1993. The game took five hours and nine minutes.
“When I was with Houston [in 2004] I took flies almost every day working on that hill,” Beltran said. “You work on that, but you don’t know if it’s going to happen in a game. But today it did happen. As soon as he hit the ball, I knew I was going to be able to get to the ball. I just went there and thank God that I was able to make the catch and save the game. You’ve got to change the way you run because if you run the way you normally run you’re going to fall down. As soon as I hit the warning track I just started doing high-knees, making my leg go higher. When I felt like I was on top of that hill, the only thing I needed to do was look for the ball. The ball was kind of going to the right side.”
In the 17th, Beltran’s single to right off Brian Moehler (1-3) drove in Jose Reyes, who had walked with one out, moved to third on Ruben Gotay’s perfect hit-and-run single and ran hard all the way around the bases (no repeating Friday night’s mistake).
David Wright, who had tied it at 3 with a solo home run 10 innings earlier, drove in an insurance run with a single to left.
Aaron Sele (2-0), the Mets’ seventh pitcher, got the win with two innings of shutout ball. Billy Wagner, who warmed up nine different times, pitched the 17th for his 17th save. Manager Willie Randolph used his entire bullpen; the Astros scored three runs in the fourth off Tom Glavine and then not again as Mets relievers threw 10 shutout frames.
Paul Lo Duca, in his first game back after a two-game suspension, went 0-for-8 for the Mets. The game tied for the longest in innings in baseball this season.
“A classic game,” said Randolph. “A good win, a grind-it-out kind of win. You don’t want to lose a game like that.”
This is what you get when you have a stadium with a roof: You get to play when it rains. Even when it pours.
Torrential rains have fallen in Houston ever since the Mets arrived here by flying through thunderstorms from Denver late Wednesday night. But the roof at Minute Maid Park means the games can go off inside no matter what’s going on outside.
Glavine pitched well enough to win, but had to settle for ending the first half with seven wins on the season and 297 in his career. He allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings with one walk and one strikeout.
The Astros touched him for three two-out runs in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. The Mets were no-hit for the first four innings by 40-year-old Woody Williams. Wright led off the fifth with a single before Carlos Delgado hit his s 14th home run, a two-run shot to cut it to 3-2.
The Mets tied the score in the seventh when Wright led off with a home run to left, his 16th. They had a chance to take the lead in the eighth when Reyes and Gotay singled with two outs. But Beltran struck out.
The Mets had another rally snuffed out in the ninth when rookie centerfielder Hunter Pence gunned out Lo Duca at third base for the final out of the inning. Lo Duca was heading for the bag on a single by Green when Pence uncorked an inhuman on-the-fly throw to nail him.
And in the 10th, Reyes singled with two outs and stole second after nearly getting picked off. But Gotay struck out to end the inning.
At the start of the game, the Astros were without No. 3 hitter Lance Berkman, who didn’t mind getting the day off since he’s 2-for-18 lifetime against Glavine. Berkman was available to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth, when a pair of two-out singles against Aaron Heilman had the Astros poised to party. But Pedro Feliciano struck him out on three pitches to send the game into extra innings.
The Mets let another golden opportunity slip away in the 12th. Green led off with an infield single and was sacrificed to second by Ricky Ledee. Pinch hitter Julio Franco lined a single to right. Green was waved home by third base coach Sandy Alomar but wisely stopped himself rounding third; rightfielder Burke’s one-hop throw would have gotten him by plenty.
Reyes was next with the infield in, but he grounded the first pitch to third for the second out. Miller then struck out Gotay.

Here’s your Newsday.com-only Mets game story with quotes. Enjoy:
It was about 12:05 on Thursday morning when some clever scoreboard person at Shea Stadium put the Eric Clapton song “After Midnight” on the loudspeakers.
It was only the seventh inning of the Mets-Cubs game that was supposed to start at 7:10 p.m. but didn’t get underway until 10:17. That’s a three-hour, seven-minute rain delay.
Waiting that long to get in the game – especially with another one scheduled for Thursday at 1:10 p.m. – was OK with the few thousand fans who braved the rain and stuck around. And it was really OK with the Jorge Sosa and the Mets.
Sosa allowed one run and one hit in seven-plus innings as the Mets beat the Cubs, 8-1, in a game that ended at 12:53.
There was one troublesome note for the Mets: Jose Reyes was replaced by pinch runner Ruben Gotay after feeling tightness in his left hamstring during an eighth-inning at-bat.
Reyes said he felt a cramp after his first swing in the at-bat (he stayed in and singled). He also said he would play Thursday afternoon.
“No doubt,” he said.
Sosa, who has won all three of his Mets starts, left to a standing ovation from the small but energetic crowd after walking Cesar Izturis to open the eighth. Izturis came around to score on a two-out bloop single by Cliff Floyd, ruining the shutout but not Sosa’s impressive evening/morning.
“He’s doing a nice job,” manager Willie Randolph said. “He’s in a nice little rhythm right now. He’s pitched like that in the past at times. He’s really feeling his pitches and staying on his slider real well, mixing in his pitches.”
Damion Easley had a two-run homer, rookie Carlos Gomez had two hits and his first two major-league RBIs and David Wright had two hits and two RBIs for the Mets (25-14), who leap-frogged Atlanta again to move into first place in the NL East.
Sosa, who walked three and struck out five, was a 13-game winner for the Braves in 2005. In 2006, he went 3-11 with a 5.42 ERA for Atlanta and St. Louis. The Mets signed him to a one-year, $1.25 million free agent deal on Jan. 16, but he had an awful spring training – 8.53 ERA – and started the season at Triple-A New Orleans.
Cajun cooking must have been to his liking. Sosa went 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA for New Orleans before his recall on May 5.
“He threw strike one after strike one after strike one,” said catcher Paul Lo Duca. “He was unbelievable.”
Rain began falling at Shea Stadium at about 4 p.m., just as general manager Omar Minaya was answering questions from reporters in the Mets dugout about the steroid suspension of minor-leaguer Lino Urdaneta and the Lastings Milledge rap lyrics fiasco.
It rained hard and it rained good, with thunder and lightning and everything, before finally stopping a little before 10 p.m. The few thousand fans who remained (37,483 tickets were sold) cheered when an announcement was made that the game would begin around 10:15.
The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the second inning against Cubs lefthander Rich Hill (4-3) when Gomez blooped a two-out RBI single down the rightfield line.
Gomez, who is 4-for-9 since getting called up on Sunday, will get to stay a Met a little longer as Moises Alou was placed on the 15-day disabled list after the game, retroactive to Saturday.
The Mets called up lefthander Jason Vargas to start on Thursday against Chicago’s Angel Guzman.
After Wright’s sacrifice fly in the third, Easley made it 4-0 in the fourth with a 415-foot, two-run home run into the Cubs’ bullpen in left. It was the sixth homer for Easley; two more and he’ll tie Carlos Beltran for the team lead.
Notes & quotes: Vargas, 24, was 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA in seven starts for Triple-A New Orleans. Last season he was 1-2, 7.33 in 12 appearances (five starts) for the Marlins. “I like his stuff,” Randolph said. “He uses his changeup real well, pitches inside for a lefty, uses his cutter. I know when we first made the [trade], I liked the move at the time.”. . . Aaron Sele, the final holdout among the Mets players, got his head shaved yesterday.

Just heard a loud crack of thunder here at Shea at 6:33 p.m.
The tarp is on the field and it's raining heavily, as it has been since about 4:00.
We'll let you know if and when this game is going to begin.
In the meantime, why don't we all start thinking about this weekend's Subway Series. What are your predictions? Mets sweep? Mets take two of three? Yankees take two of three? Yankees sweep? All three games rained out? Let us know.

METS HONOR JACKIE ROBINSON
THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, APRIL 20

Pre-Game Ceremony Begins at 6:30 P.M.
When Mets Host the Atlanta Braves at Shea

The Mets today announced that they will honor Jackie Robinson Friday night, April 20 when the Mets return to Shea Stadium to host the Atlanta Braves. The pre-game celebration is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Mets Manager Willie Randolph will wear #42 on Friday night to honor Robinson.

The Mets' plans as part of Major League Baseball’s league-wide commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier were postponed this morning due to inclement weather throughout the New York tri-state area.

The make-up date for today's game against the Washington Nationals has yet to be determined. Fans should hold onto their April 15 tickets which will be honored for the rescheduled game against Washington.

Fans also have the option of exchanging their paid tickets from today’s rain out for the same price seat or apply its value toward the purchase price of a ticket to Jackie Robinson Night – subject to availability – at the Mets advance ticket windows at Shea Stadium. Rain checks and complimentary tickets from today’s game (marked April 15) will not be honored for admission on Friday night.

The Mets already have sold more than 40,000 tickets for this Friday night’s game. The Mets will announce further details regarding Friday night’s ceremony shortly.

For some reason, the Mets postponed their Sunday game against the Nationals. Maybe it had something to do with the 2-3 inches of rain and the puddles that are big enough to hide Endy Chavez in. No makeup date yet.
The rotation for the next five days will be Maine, Glavine, Perez, Pelfrey and Duque.
Forecast doesn't look good for Monday's game in Philadelphia either. You might not see any Mets baseball until Tuesday.
More on this in tomorrow's paper and on Newsday.com. Stay dry!

As expected, the Mets sent Lastings Milledge to Triple-A New Orleans after Thursday's game. Shawn Green's hot start made this a no-brainer move, but couldn't Willie Randolph have given the kid one start?
I know a lot of you are wondering why Julio Franco gets to be on the team and Milledge doesn't. I wouldn't have kept Milledge either if he wasn't going to play -- and he wasn't, not regularly -- but the Mets love Franco and he's a pretty good pinch hitter. He's not going anywhere. Don't waste your brain cells on that one.
A bigger issue for Randolph going forward is getting Endy Chavez some at-bats. Endy is too good to be just a pinch runner and defensive replacement.
What do you think? Do you think Milledge will be a Met next season or gone in a trade for a pitcher? I think gone.

Going to Shea for the home opener? Be warned: 2,100 parking spaces will be unavailable today due to construction for Citi Field. The Mets are urging fans to take public transportation, and not just for today, since they have sold more than 2.5 million tickets so far this season.
Here's the Mets release on expanded transit options:

EXPANDED RAIL SERVICE PROVIDES A FASTER, EASIER WAY
TO OPENING DAY AT SHEA

New Mets Ticket Offers Benefit Subway, LIRR, and Metro-North Riders

Complete Transportation Information Available at Mets.com or LosMets.com

FLUSHING, N.Y., April 7, 2007 – The New York Mets, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York City Transit, and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), today announced additional service for Opening Day at Shea, April 9, and frequent regular season service to Shea Stadium throughout the 2007 season.

In anticipation of increased attendance in 2007, resulting from the team’s on-field success last season and the club’s best start in 22 years with a 4-0 record, NYC Transit and LIRR will add more trains on Opening Day and other select games. On Opening Day, NYC Transit will run more Flushing-bound 7 Express trains from Manhattan one hour earlier, at 11:30 a.m. and the LIRR will provide additional service on the Port Washington Line and Main Line trains connecting at Woodside for the non-stop, five-minute trip to Shea. Complete transportation information and timetables are available online at Mets.com or LosMets.com.

In the ongoing effort to provide added value benefits to Mets fans taking mass transit, riders can enjoy a special “Take the Train to the Game” $10 discount on the advance purchase of Mezzanine Reserved and Upper Box tickets for 20 select games. Riders can obtain the discount by using the code “METROCARD,” “LIRR,” or “METRONORTH” at the time of purchase by calling the Mets Ticket Office at (718) 507-TIXX or by visiting Mets.com.

Shea is easily accessible to fans using mass transit throughout the tri-state area. Fans coming from Westchester and Connecticut can reach Shea by taking Metro-North to Grand Central Terminal and transfer to the 7 Subway. NJ Transit riders can transfer at Penn Station to the Port Washington Line of the LIRR for the 16-minute ride to Shea.

The East River provides another route to Shea via the Mets Express Water Taxi and the Seastreak. The Mets Express departs from the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park Brooklyn, South Street Seaport’s Pier 17 in downtown Manhattan, East 34th Street in midtown Manhattan, and East 90th Street. Fans coming from New Jersey can ride the Seastreak departing from Highlands in Monmouth County for the 75-minute trip to the Flushing Marina across the street from Shea. Both boats depart 30 minutes after the last out of the game.

Except for the temperatures here, everyone is excited about the Glavine-Smoltz matchup. Even Willie Randolph, who normally wouldn't admit his head was hot if his hair was on fire.
Randolph made the following changes to the Mets' lineup:
None.
Why would he change a thing?
I'd like to see some more people chime in on the questions posed below: 1) of the Braves and Phillies, who do you think will be the Mets' biggest foe this season; and 2) would you prefer to see the Mets blow out the Braves in the division or break their hearts late in the season?

This is going to be part of my notebook in Saturday's paper. Thought you might like a sneak preview:

Willie Randolph’s logic was a version of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In fact, the Mets manager actually said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it” when asked why he used the same lineup for the fourth straight game Friday night against the Braves.
Being the same meant Shawn Green (batting .333) and Jose Valentin (batting .091) both started against lefthander Mark Redman. Green was 6-for-6 with a walk lifetime against Redman coming in, which was news to Green but not to Randolph.
“Really?” Green asked when told of his 1.000 batting average. “I guess it can’t go up.”
Lastings Milledge, who turned 22 on Thursday, might have been a candidate to get his first start of the season, but Randolph quashed that notion.
“Green’s my rightfielder,” he said. “I usually don’t like young players sitting, but having said that, [Milledge] made the team because he had a great spring and he can help us win now any way I use him. I can’t be worried about ‘because he’s young I’ve got to play him.’ ”
Randolph compared Milledge’s situation to that of utilityman David Newhan. He admitted, though, that Milledge may have a tougher time adapting to limited duty.
“You can’t expect him to know how to handle coming off the bench,” he said. “He’s never done it. He’s 22 years old.”

Rieber here, pinch hitting for Lennon this weekend.

So the Mets are 3-0, the Braves are 3-0 and the Phillies are 0-3. Interesting turn of events, don't you think? It leads me to a pair of questions for you to ponder as we get ready for Mets vs. Braves tonight.

1) Which team do you think will give the Mets the most trouble this season, Atlanta or Philly? I'm assuming you're all savvy enough to know you can't base anything on the first three games of the season.

2) Would you rather see the Mets blow the Braves away in the division again or beat them in a squeaker? Do you want to rub their noses in the Mets' superiority or break their hearts at the last minute?

Discuss...

And if you'd like a more interactive experience, allow me to direct you to "Ask Anthony" -- my Newsday.com mailbag. Go ahead, ask me anything, as long as it's about baseball -- please don't ask me about the Islanders' Ice Girls -- and I'll do my best to give you an answer with a new mailbag on Mondays.

(If you want to read about the Ice Girls, check out my colleague Jim Baumbach's new Web-only column.)

Back later with some more Mets stuff...

Here's today's Mets lineup for their exhibition game against the Nationals in Viera.
Reyes SS
Lo Duca C
Beltran CF
Delgado 1B
Wright 3B
Alou LF
Milledge RF
Hernandez 2B
Park P

Substitute Green for Milledge and Valentin for Hernandez and change the pitcher and you've got a possible Opening Day lineup. Willie Randolph has experimented with Wright in the second spot a lot this spring. So what's your preferred lineup, Mets fans? Tell Willie how he should do it.

Rickey Henderson arrived in camp yesterday for a 10-day stint as a baserunning instructor. Looking fit as always at 48, baseball’s all-time stolen base king was asked if he’s officially retired yet. “I don’t know what retirement is,” he said. “They keep saying, ‘You’re retired, Rickey.’ They won’t let me play. This year probably I’ll announce that maybe I’m retired . . . Unless somebody says, ‘Hey, let me see, can you go out there and play?’ ”
Henderson is probably the only person who will still hold out the hope of playing again while he’s making his induction speech for the Hall of Fame.

I'll let you in on a little secret: I got sick of the Duaner Sanchez story at about 1:30 p.m. today. It hit me all of a sudden as I was finishing my third story in three days about the Mets' tardy reliever.
I mean, Sanchez getting kicked out of camp by Willie Randolph is a big story, and I believe Newsday gave it the appropriate play the last three days. If you read the coverage you know this is about more than Sanchez being late a few times: the Mets brass was fed up with his lackadaisical attitude toward the rehab of his right shoulder, and so were his teammates. What the Mets did was totally correct.
Where I started to get sick of the story was when I started to think about Sanchez's role on the team. He's just not that important. Yes, he was lights out in the first half of last season, but relievers are often spotty from year to year, and I had doubts he will be as effective this season anyway. If he's slacking off on his rehab, then it will be even harder for him to handle the workload he had last season, when he was often used for more than one inning, and there's no guarantee he won't break down physically.
Omar Minaya is smart in knowing he has to stockpile bullpen arms. I don't know if Sanchez or Burgos or Sosa or Mota (after his drug suspension) or someone else will emerge as the eighth-inning complement to Heilman and Wagner, but I betcha someone will.

If you have some free time, check out Newsday.com's awesome spring training photo blog. The link is
http://www.newsdayinteractive.com/project/blog/newsdayphoto/index.htm
Enjoy

The news is all about first basemen.
--- Shawn Green is playing first base today.
--- Carlos Delgado took BP and said his sore neck felt better. Maybe he plays on Sunday.
--- Julio Franco hurt his left wrist yesterday. Extent of the injury unknown as of yet.

El Duque's second and final inning:
Aubrey Huff Foul out 3
Jay Payton Double rightfield corner
Jon Knott BB
Eider Torres Fielder's choice 3-6
Brandon Fahey Single off El Duque's foot (he's OK), run scores, 1-0 Orioles
Adam Donachie, three-run home run, 4-0
Yan Ruddy Single, stolen base
Chris Gomez Single, run scores, 5-0
Nick Markakis Single
Aubrey Huff 6-3
33 pitches, 18 strikes, 5 runs, six hits, 1 walk
Totals: 2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 43 pitches, 24 strikes

Delgado update: The Mets first baseman had x-rays on his neck yesterday morning. They were negative. He's day-to-day.

El Duque's first inning:
Yan Ruddy 4-3
Chris Gomez Backwards K
Nick Markakis Check-swing liner 5
10 pitches, 6 strikes

-- Carlos Delgado was not in the lineup and in fact left the ballpark early.

Greetings from sunny and warm Port St. Lucie. Today's Mets news begins with a tale of two sore necks: those of Orlando Hernandez and Carlos Delgado. El Duque is scheduled to pitch today against the Orioles in his first outing of the spring, so hit the refresh button often between 1 and 2 p.m. and we'll tell you how he's doing. Also, it doesn't look like Delgado is going to play today, but the lineup isn't out yet. Delgado, you'll remember, hurt his neck on a bad pillow the other day. Delgado has said he's OK; the pillow could not be reached for comment.

Well, it seems like we've spent enough time discussing Guillermo Mota. Here's what's going on with the Mets:
-- The team is holding a mini-camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla., for some of its prospects. A few major-leaguers showed up: David Wright (the face of the franchise), John Maine and Dave Williams. Wright was the biggest name there until ....
-- Pedro Martinez walked in. Martinez had his surgically repaired shoulder checked out by trainer Ray Ramirez. Pedro says his rehab is going great, but he won't put a timetable on his return or rush it. He's going to listen to the doctors and return when his body is ready to return. He said he won't start throwing until March. More on this in Thursday's newspaper and on Newsday.com
-- As first reported by ESPN.com, the Mets are close to signing lefthanded Scott Schoeneweis, who has been both a starter and reliever in his career. He's 33 and isn't all that good, but as a middle-innings guy or spot starter at least he adds depth. Should be finalized in the next few days.
-- GM Omar Minaya said the Mets have no interest in Bernie Williams if he doesn't return to the Yankees and wants to play another year. Couldn't Williams help the Mets off the bench? Doesn't seem like Minaya has improved the bench enough this offseason.
-- Willie Randolph's contract extension is still not done. What's going on here? Is Willie holding out for Joe Torre money? Maybe that's why Willie seemed to be in a foul mood as he walked around an otherwise upbeat minicamp today. He's supposed to speak with reporters tomorrow. Updates then.

Seven-hundred fifty-five, 714, 715. 61, 73. Numbers mean plenty to anyone who ever cared about baseball. You don’t even have to identify them because they are a language of their own, and they represent most of what makes baseball distinct.

Numbers, in fact, are what makes Barry Bonds so remarkable. He has hit 73 home runs in a season—12 more than the record that seemed so unbreakable for 37 years. Fans know that Babe Ruth’s 714 career homers stood as a benchmark and that Hank Aaron has the record with 755 and that Bonds is now the only one in between them.

Numbers are what tie baseball’s past, present and future. They are what give the sport its personality—for good or bad. Yes, critics point out that baseball people and fans are too hung up on figures, but it’s just the way it is. A pitcher who has 300 wins is a Hall of Famer, so is a batter who gets 3,000 hits. Numbers matter.

We know that hitting .400 for a season is almost impossible, as is winning 30 games or hitting safely in 56 consecutive games. We also know it all has been done. We know the numbers.

All of which brings us back to Bonds. What people hold against him—and any other batter or pitcher suspected of using steroids—is that he might throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. If home run totals are artificially inflated now, what will any numbers mean from now on? Do we have a separate category for the late 1990s on? Is that even fair? Weren’t pitchers allegedly doing as many steroids as the sluggers? We just don’t know, and that’s the problem.

That’s a big reason why Bonds gets booed at Shea Stadium and everywhere else outside of San Francisco. He is the biggest target and, unlike Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and others, the one still standing.

-- Mark Herrmann

What do you think about Carlos Delgado for abandoning his principles just because the Mets have asked him to?
When he was a Toronto Blue Jay, Delgado refused to stand for the playing of “God Bless America” in American baseball stadiums because he felt doing so would mean he was showing de facto support for the war in Iraq. It got a lot of attention and got him booed at Yankee Stadium, where “God Bless America” is played during the seventh-inning stretch of every home game. But he stuck to his guns.
The Mets only play the song on Sundays and during special occasions, like Opening Day or Memorial Day. So there was Delgado on Monday night, on the top step of the dugout during the seventh-inning stretch, adhering to the Mets’ policy that all players must stand when the patriotic song is played, as he has said he would. As a Blue Jay, Delgado would retreat into the clubhouse and then re-emerge when it was time for baseball again.
When my Newsday colleague Wallace Matthews asked him about the issue before the game, Delgado politely but firmly brushed him off. It’s strange that someone who was willing to make a public statement two years ago is now silent when he’s playing in the media capital of the world, where his views could get wide play and perhaps fuel a debate about one of the most important issues of our time.
Mets fans: Did it bother you when Delgado didn’t stand for “God Bless America” when he was a Blue Jay? Would you like him less as a player or person if he continued to do it now, in Shea Stadium, on Memorial Day?

--- Jose Valentin started his second straight game at second base on Monday. Willie Randolph said he's going to rotate, but not platoon, Valentin, Kaz Matsui and Chris Woodward.
“I’m going to match up guys the way I see fit,” Randolph said. “It’s not going to be any type of platoon thing, it’s just how I feel at the tiime."
Omar Minaya said the Mets are not considering calling up Anderson Hernandez for the moment.
--- The public address announcer at Shea introduced "Larry the Cable Guy" before the game. You'd think the Mets would not want to draw attention to this "celebrity" sighting. At least there was no flatulence involved.

OK, Mets fans, you’ve had 24 hours to digest the Orlando Hernandez trade. Let’s hear your thoughts. Is getting the ageless ex-Yankee enough to calm your fears about the Mets’ rotation? Or is it merely a stopgap measure to bide time until Omar Minaya can make a deal for a stud before the trade deadline? Does it bother you that Kris Benson has now been traded, in effect, for Hernandez and John Maine? Does getting a pitcher who is mostly identified with the Yankees make you want to retch? Or is it fair game after Doc Gooden, David Cone and Al Leiter became Yankees?

Have you ever flown into LaGuardia Airport and gotten a great view of Shea Stadium while a game was going on?
That happened to Mets pitcher Heath Bell on Wednesday during his flight from Syracuse after the Mets recalled him from Triple-A. He was in a plane over Shea during the seventh inning of the Mets-Phillies game when he saw Pat Burrell rounding the bases after his game-tying home run against Pedro Feliciano.
“I saw somebody running around the bases and the infielders standing around,” Bell said. “I knew it was a homer. I thought it was us.”
Bell was supposed to reach Shea by game time, but he was delayed in Syracuse when his first flight was canceled due to mechanical problems. He didn’t arrive until after the Mets’ 5-4 victory.
He’ll be flying somewhere else later Thursday: either to Miami with the Mets or back to Syracuse. The Mets will need a roster spot soon to make room for Orlando Hernandez.
UPDATE: Bell made it on the plane to Miami. Jeremi Gonzalez didn't.

It was a small transaction, but it spoke volumes. Anderson Hernandez, the great-field, no-hit second base prodigy, finished his injury rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk and was assigned to . . . Triple-A Norfolk. Hernandez could have been called up to the big club, but the Mets have quietly decided to stick with Kaz Matsui at second base. Matsui has been solid in the field and was batting .238 going into Tuesday’s game against the Phillies. Will it last? Matsui was an iron man in Japan; his history with the Mets suggests an injury is just around the corner.

Here’s Willie Randolph’s scouting report on Cuban righthander Alay Soler, who was called up Monday and will make his major league debut against the Phillies Wednesday or Thursday:
“He’s got a good slider, two curveballs. His velocity’s been up since he first came to the States. I know that he’s experienced, been around a long time. He’s throwing the ball really well right now.”
Soler is listed as 26 years old. He signed with the Mets in August 2004, but missed all of last season because visa problems prevented the team from bringing him to the United States.
He was hit hard in spring training, going 0-1 with a 21.56 ERA in two outings. He picked it up in the minors, going 2-0, 0.64 in five starts with St. Lucie (A) and 1-0, 2.75 in three starts for Binghamton (AA).
In 19 2/3 innings at Double-A, he allowed 16 hits with three walks and 22 strikeouts.

Notes after the Mets' 4-3 win over the Yankees on Sunday night:
-- Alay Soler and Jeremi Gonzalez will start Wednesday and Thursday against the Phillies (order to be determined). Interestingly, the Mets don't care to have Pedro Martinez start Thursday on normal rest against their closest division rivals. Instead, they will start him, Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel in Florida next weekend. Three guaranteed wins? Could be. Dontrelle Willis will start either Friday or Saturday. A Pedro-Dontrelle matchup would be fun, wouldn't it?
-- Cliff Floyd felt pain on his left shoulder blade after diving for a ball in the sixth and was replaced in the eighth, but said he'll be OK for Tuesday.
-- Fun series, huh? All three games were exciting and could have been won by either team. Anyone who thinks Mets-Yanks isn't a good idea, please exit the room quietly.

Kazmir Outduels Willis, Shuts Out Marlins
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By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer

May 21, 2006, 5:17 PM EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Scott Kazmir kept the Florida Marlins guessing all day long.

"He had it all going on," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said Sunday. "Fastball, slider, changeup. Both sides of the plate, up and down."

Kazmir allowed four hits and matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts in eight innings, helping the Devil Rays beat Dontrelle Willis and the punchless Marlins 3-0 for the young left-hander's fifth straight win.

At 22, Kazmir is the youngest major league pitcher to win seven games this early in a season since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.

"He's got great stuff, and he knows how to pitch. He's proved that," Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. "He's been on a roll. I think he took a few lumps the first half of the season last year. Since then, he's been as good as anyone in baseball."

Kazmir (7-2) shares the major league lead in wins. He held the Marlins to three singles and Miguel Cabrera's fourth-inning double while limiting an opponent to one or fewer earned runs for the fifth consecutive start.

The lefty walked one and hit a batter before departing after 119 pitches. Tyler Walker worked the ninth for his eighth save in nine opportunities.

"I felt in a groove the whole game," said Kazmir, who didn't get his first win last season until May 19.

"This is the best I've felt, by far, definitely. I'm a whole new pitcher. I'm more comfortable with all of my pitches."

Jonny Gomes keyed a three-run fifth inning with a RBI triple off Willis (1-5), who allowed eight hits in his first complete game of the season.

Ty Wigginton and Greg Norton also drove runs in the fifth for the Devil Rays, who swept the weekend series and have won a season-high four straight games.

The Marlins have lost seven in a row, their longest skid since losing eight in a row from July 7-18, 2002.

Willis worked out of jams with runners in scoring position in the first, second and third innings, but couldn't wiggle off the hook after giving up a one-out single to Julio Lugo in the fifth.

Gomes broke the scoreless tie with his triple to right-center, then trotted home on Wigginton's RBI single for a 2-0 lead. Norton finished the inning with a run-scoring single that gave Kazmir added insurance.

"You could see when he got the lead that he turned it up. To me, that's the mark of an ace and a winner," Girardi said.

"He's got three out pitches. Whenever you have a starting pitcher with three out pitches, they're dangerous. They're going to rack up strikeouts and they're going to go deep into games. You don't get the same look at them."

Indications are the Mets are leaning toward Jose Lima as their starter for Thursday’s game in St. Louis and Jeremi Gonzalez for Friday’s Subway Series opener against the Yankees at Shea. That would give Brian Bannister more time to rehab from his strained right hamstring and give Pedro Martinez an extra day between starts after his 107-pitch outing on Sunday. Martinez would pitch Saturday and Tom Glavine on Sunday.