From MIKE PUMA

PORT ST. LUCIE — The fight for the No. 5 spot in the Mets’ rotation is still tilting in Livan Hernandez‘s favor. Hernandez sure looked better today than his competition for the job, Freddy Garcia, during a minor-league scrimmage at Tradition Field.

Hernandez went five innings and allowed one run on four hits. Garcia allowed three runs on eight hits over four innings.

Jerry Manuel said he expects to make a decision by Saturday on the final spot in his rotation.

“We’ll have to sit down as a group to determine what’s the best direction to go with this, because we are running out of innings,” Manuel said.

One positive for Garcia yesterday was his velocity. The right-hander consistently threw in the high 80s after spending much of the spring in the low 80s.