Beltran Makes Impact in Return

Less than a week from his collision with Mike Cameron, Carlos Beltran returned to the field for the Mets last night against the Pirates. He made his return without wearing a face mask or much special protection for his fractured cheek at all. The only adjustment was extra padding to the ear flap of his batting helmet.

In the 5-1 Mets victory, Beltran was 1-2 with 2 walks and a stolen base. His lone hit came on a bunt that he beat to 1st base. Tom Glavine picked up the win for the Mets. Glavine went 7 innings for the win, and the 271st of his career. Glavine is making the slow crawl towards 300 and now ranks 30th in career victories.

Because having Cameron on the DL and a gimpy center fielder isn't enough, the Mets also found out that Mike Piazza has a broken bone in his wrist. It remains to be seen whether Piazza's injury is actually bad for the Mets. Ramon Castro is a step up defensively and not quite as good offensively, but it's not like Piazza has been stellar this season.

Photo by Newsday/Kathy Kmonicek