PORT ST. LUCIE – The injury-riddled Mets actually fielded a recognizable lineup yesterday.
Manager Willie Randolph almost didn’t know how to react after welcoming back right fielder Ryan Church, catcher Brian Schneider and key reserves Damion Easley and Endy Chavez in a 12-4 loss to the Marlins.
“It felt like we had a new team out there,” Randolph said.
Of course, Randolph and the Mets still don’t know when first baseman Carlos Delgado (sore hip), center fielder Carlos Beltran (knee surgeries) or second baseman Luis Castillo (knee surgery) will be ready.
They also will be minus left fielder Moises Alou (hernia surgery) for at least the next four weeks.
But having four projected regulars in uniform again after lengthy absences was a rare bit of good news for the Mets in what has been an otherwise depressing camp.
Church, who suffered a concussion in an on-field collision with Marlon Anderson on March 1, surprised Randolph yesterday by volunteering to start in right and take a couple of at-bats. He was 2-for-2 with a pair of singles.
“I told him I wanted to get out there,” Church said. “I felt good. If I feel like this when I wake up [today], then I’ll be able to play every day.”
Schneider, obtained with Church from the Nationals in the Lastings Milledge trade, also had a good day. Schneider homered off Chris Volstad in his first at-bat after missing a week with a strained right hamstring.
Easley, out all spring with a high ankle sprain, also homered during a 1-for-4 day as the DH, while Chavez made his spring debut by starting in center. Chavez shook off two sore hamstrings to go 1-for-3.
Anderson, meanwhile, also played for the first time since the collision, serving as the DH in a 4-1 split-squad win over the Orioles in Fort Lauderdale.
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The Mets are feeling better about Duaner Sanchez after the reliever ended an eight-day absence by pitching a scoreless seventh against the Marlins. Sanchez, who hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game in nearly two years, walked one but notched a strikeout.
Sanchez had been on the shelf since Feb. 29 because of stiffness in his right shoulder stemming from two surgeries caused by a July 2006 taxi accident in Miami.
The Mets wanted Sanchez to throw more fastballs yesterday to test his shoulder, and he complied. Scouts said he was between 86-88 mph with the fastball.
How Sanchez feels today will decide when he pitches again. “It felt great,” Sanchez said. “My fastball was there, I could let it go, and the change-up was strong.”
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A split-squad heavy on minor-leaguers fared much better yesterday in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles than Randolph’s club in Port St. Lucie. Jonathan Niese, recently reassigned to the minor-league camp, allowed one run and struck out two in two innings to get the decision. … Single-game tickets for the final season at Shea Stadium go on sale today at 9 a.m.