MET NOTES
MILWAUKEE – Willie Randolph stopped short of saying he would rotate Victor Diaz into the outfield. But the Mets manager does want to make sure he gets Diaz some at-bats.
And so Diaz was in the lineup yesterday, getting the start in left field as Cliff Floyd got a day off.
“Cliff, he’s been playing, but he’s a little banged up. So it gives me an opportunity just to sneak a day when I can and get [Diaz] into the loop,” Randolph said. “[Mike Cameron] said he’s okay, but he’s just got regular soreness like he probably should anyway, but I’ll probably give him a day too.
“I don’t know if it’s a regular routine or rotation, but I’ll always look for an opportunity to get him in if I can. Because if I can’t, then I don’t think it makes sense for him to be here.”
Floyd was fine with getting Diaz in there, saying: “If he can rotate him in as much as he can, I think it’s going to be good. You keep everybody fresh.”
Diaz went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, while Floyd struck out as a pinch hitter in the ninth.
Randolph gave half of his regulars the day off yesterday, resting Mike Piazza, Floyd, Doug Mientkiewicz and Kazuo Matsui and inserting Ramon Castro, Diaz, Chris Woodward and Miguel Cairo, respectively.
Sitting Piazza was obvious since it was a day game after a night game and Mientkiewicz had been hit on the foot on Saturday, so he wasn’t surprising either.
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Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon took some shots at former Pirate Kris Benson in yesterday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the highlight coming when McClendon was quoted in the paper as saying: “Doesn’t the onus have to be on the player once in a while? When you’re on that mound, it’s just you out there. You had better have some [nerve]. [Benson] had great stuff for us, but he didn’t have the heart of a lion. They’ll find that out in New York.”
According to the story, McClendon’s quotes were in response to remarks Benson made to The Post’s Jay Greenberg during spring training.
“There wasn’t anybody in Pittsburgh to give me tips,” Benson said then. “I pretty much had to learn everything myself.”
Benson also said: “The Pirates didn’t have my back.”
Said Benson yesterday in regard to McClendon’s comments: “You just don’t make those comments 10 months after the fact and not think them while I’m there. So it’s just a shame that it has to continue to be in the same way as I thought it was when I was there.”
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Jose Reyes, who said his left calf was tight on Saturday, said he felt okay yesterday and played, going 0-for-3 with a walk . . . Matsui struck out as a pinch-hitter and is now in a 1-for-20 funk. His average is down to .238.
