The Mets put Orlando Hernandez and Jose Valentin on the 15-day DL yesterday. Valentin is expected to be out three to four weeks with a partially torn right ACL, while El Duque will miss a couple of starts with bursitis in his pitching shoulder.
They’re confidant Hernandez – who had a cortisone shot in his neck for arthritis this spring – will only miss two starts, but he wasn’t so sure.
“I don’t know the future. I know today. I don’t know tomorrow,” said Hernandez, who’s listed as 37 years old but could be several years older. “I don’t want to miss any games, but it is mandatory.”
Valentin, 37, will rehab at Port St. Lucie for two to three weeks before undergoing another MRI.
But with next year’s $4.3 million deal guaranteed only if he reaches 400 plate appearances, he’ll delay surgery until the offseason, if at all, saying, “I can’t afford to have surgery. I’ll take my chances, play without surgery and after we celebrate the parade for the World Series, the next day I’ll have surgery.”
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Moises Alou gave way to Endy Chavez in the ninth, leaving with a cut on his chin and a sore shoulder, an injury he’d suffered in Washington. Alou is scheduled to get an MRI on the shoulder today.
Carlos Beltran (4-for-5) tied a career-high in hits, done 18 times, including three this year. But other than he and Jose Reyes, the top of the lineup is mired in a funk.
Carlos Delgado was back after his first day off, going 1-for-5 and stranding four runners, just 2-for-22 and 7-for-his-last-51.
Paul Lo Duca (2-for-5) is 7 for his last 42, narrowly missed a two-run shot foul and making a sixth-inning throwing error to plate a run.
“I’m taking my offense out in the field and that’s unacceptable,” Lo Duca said. “Throwing the ball into right field, that’s terrible by me.”
Shawn Green is batting .438 in his eight-game hitting streak.