Willie Randolph is breathing just a tad bit easier today, thanks to Johan Santana. The Mets’ $137.5 Million Man was the stopper once again Tuesday night in their much-needed, 5-3 win over the Marlins at Shea Stadium. Santana wasn’t the only savior for the Mets, though. Randolph was forced for a variety of reasons to resort to his bench, and the unheralded trio of Fernando Tatis, Damion Easley and Ramon Castro also showed up big in just the Amazin’s second win in their past nine games.

In the notebook, which was completed before this morning’s report on the team’s Web site that Pedro Martinez will make his Met return June 3 in San Francisco, we have items on Martinez’s comeback, Ryan Church’s potential trip to the DL, Matt Wise and Marlon Anderson.

Meanwhile, colleague Larry Brooks takes a break from covering pucks to examine the delicate racial balance in the Mets’ clubhouse and how that impacts their glaring lack of team leadership.