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Mike Baxter can't remember the last time he had a catch at the wall like he did in the first inning of the Mets' 6-1 win over the Padres Friday night.

"That's probably the first time at this level," the outfielder said.

Then again, it'd be hard for any prior catch to top Friday's acrobatic snare. Baxter's fantastic grab started an inning-ending double play in the first inning that proved to be a momentum-changing play that helped galvanize the Mets to their win.

"Held them to the one run in the inning instead of a multi-run inning and I think it really lifted Dillon (Gee) and everybody else," manager Terry Collins said. "It was a tremendous play."

With runners on first and third and one out in a scoreless game, Jesus Guzman hit a deep drive to left that Baxter snared with his right arm extended before crashing into the wall. While the runner from third scored, Baxter was able to get the ball back in time to nail Yonder Alonso at first to end the inning. Gee, shaky in the first inning, didn't yield another run.

Baxter said the ball carried and he was able to get a decent break on the ball and make the big play. He also contributed by driving in the go-ahead run with a double in the third, and he later came around to score. He's hitting .352 on the year.

"For him to have a play like that and get me out of the inning is huge," Gee said. "It gives me confidence going the rest of the game."

IKE AND DUDA PITCH IN: David Wright can't be the hero every night, so when he has 0-for-3 games like he did Friday, the team needs others to step up. Friday night, that support came from Lucas Duda and Ike Davis, who drove in three in the win.

"It's huge for our team," Collins said.

Davis drove in a pair of runs for the second straight day with his single in the fifth inning. Collins wondered if this is what Davis needs to get going offensively, as the team recently told him he won't be demoted to the minors despite his slow start to the year. He's 3-for-8 over the last three games and has boosted his average to .168.

"I've felt a little bit better, my swing feels a lot better," Davis said. "BP has been really good the last two days, it's just nice to contribute."

For Duda, his second-inning home run off the Subway sign in front of the second level of seats in right field snapped a span of 77 at-bats without a home run. Duda now has 23 RBIs, which is the second-most on the team behind Wright. He scored two runs in the win.

"I think for me to be a productive big leaguer I have to hit home runs," Duda said. "Just continue to battle and play the game hard."

As he's endured a rocky start to the 2012 season, Mets starter Dillon Gee has been battling himself, trying to find the right groove. He's placed self-imposed pressure, telling himself he needs good starts. It contributed to a 5.44 ERA entering Friday's start.

"Lately in those games I was up in the zone a lot and mechanically I felt out of whack," Gee said. "I wasn't in sync, my right foot didn't know what my left foot was doing, and I felt lost to be honest with you."

After battling through the first inning against the Padres on Friday, a quick chat with pitching coach Dan Warthen reinforced to Gee that he needed to slow down and focus on locating his pitches. Simple -- yet direct -- advice that helped the youngster.

Ultimately, Gee found his groove on the mound, located his pitches and delivered his second-best outing of the season as he threw seven innings of one-run ball in the Mets' 6-1 victory. He struck out a career-best nine hitters as he improved to 4-3.

It marked the first time he won back-to-back starts dating back to last June.

"That's what I want to be is a consistent guy that you know what you're getting every night out and lately I haven't been that guy," Gee said. "It really gets under my skin. That's what I want to pride myself on, going out there every five days and giving the guys a quality start and a chance to win every time out. Hopefully this is the beginning of that."

Gee started slow but improved as the game progressed. He benefited from a tremendous play from left fielder Mike Baxter in the first, as Baxter caught a ball at the wall that led to a double play to end the inning. A run scored, but Gee didn't yield another. He gave up four hits.

"For him to have a play like that and get me out of that inning is huge," Gee said. "It gives me confidence going the rest of the game."

Facing the weak-hitting Padres, Gee induced plenty of soft contact, and worked around jams.

In the fifth, he sandwiched a pair of strikeouts around a fielder's choice to work his way out of two men on and no outs. In the seventh, with two on and two outs, he fanned Chris Denorfia on a fastball that just nipped the corner of the plate to end the inning with the Mets up 6-1.

"Late in the game it's almost like his sinker's better, his two-seam fastball is getting better and he's starting to locate it better and he knows he can make pitches," manager Terry Collins said. "He relaxed and says 'look, I have to make pitches to get out of this instead of throwing too hard.' He just lets his stuff work."

Since tossing a gem against Atlanta on April 16, Gee had struggled to match that outing, getting rocked several times. Friday night, he finally looked the part of that pitcher down in Atlanta, keeping it simple and finding that consistency.

"He pitched very good tonight," Collins said.

Mets manager Terry Collins said he believes Jeremy Hefner will make another start as the team searches for stability in the rotation spot once filled by Mike Pelfrey. The team has turned to three different pitchers as it waits for Chris Young to return to the majors.

Hefner gave up six runs and nine hits Thursday night in his first start. He's scheduled to pitch Tuesday against Philadelphia.

The manager said a combination of Hefner pitching well at times and a desire not to mess with the roster have earned Hefner another start. Hefner is 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA in three games.

"We just figured to give him another shot because right now you have to start rearranging the roster again," Collins said. "You have to start taking guys off and each time you try and bring a guy up who's not on the roster you take a chance on losing somebody. We're trying to avoid that if we can."

After Hefner's next start, his spot in the rotation may go to veteran Miguel Batista. Collins said the team would "wait and see," but added that the hope is that Batista is "well enough," meaning he's back from the disabled list and feeling fine. Batista has been on the disabled list since May 20 with a lower back strain.

Several different pitchers have tried to fill the open spot in the rotation and struggled overall, failing to give the team length. The bullpen had to throw 5 1/3 innings in relief of Hefner Thursday night, and Collins said it's led to overworking his relievers.

"We're asking these (bullpen) guys to do stuff they're really not comfortable with. That's the nature of the game right now, when you've got to eat up some innings," Collins said. "We have to get that guy in that spot to give us more innings."

LINEUP: After Ronny Cedeno batted leadoff Thursday, the shortstop has been moved to the No. 7 hole Friday. Collins said it's due to a combination of the pitching matchup, as San Diego is tossing a righty, and this lineup's success last series against Pittsburgh.

TEJADA: Ruben Tejada's base-running session Friday was just "so-so", according to Collins. Tejada has been on the disabled list with a right quad strain since May 6.

"I wouldn't say it's a step back, it's just not a big step forward," Collins said.

Collins said Tejada is going to be brought along slowly and it may not take many rehab games for Tejada to return once the team is OK with how he's running.

CATCHING DUTY: Rob Johnson is behind the plate again Friday because Collins wants Mike Nickeas to catch Johan Santana on Saturday and R.A. Dickey on Sunday.

INJURY NOTES: Jason Bay (rib) will not play in a game until his rib is fully healed, but he has been swinging against live pitching. Catcher Josh Thole (concussion) will catch five innings Monday. Young will pitch Friday for Single-A St. Lucie.

RAMIREZ OK: Ramon Ramirez said he is fine after his right calf tightened up on him Thursday night against the Padres.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Mets open up their longest homestand of the season (11 games) with a loss to the Padres, the second-worst team in the National League record-wise.

New York falls to 24-21 on the season -- 2-1/2 games behind first-place Washington -- while San Diego improves to 17-29.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: The Mets' Jeremy Hefner made the first start of his major league career, and it didn't go very well. To be fair, Hefner had to endure a 68-minute rain delay after pitching two scoreless innings to start the game. But once he got back on the mound, he was shelled by the third-worst hitting team in the major leagues. (The Padres' No. 5 through No. 9 hitters Thursday night were all batting .171 or lower coming into the game.)

All told, Hefner lasted just 3-2/3 innings on the night, giving up six runs on nine hits, with three strikeouts and no walks. We'll have to wait and see whether manager Terry Collins gives him another chance in five days, or looks for another option to plug into the rotation.

THE REST OF THE WAY: Ramon Ramirez, Manny Acosta and Robert Carson handled the final 5-1/3 innings for the Mets. Acosta surrendered three more runs in his two innings of work, his ERA ballooning to 10.97. Carson allowed a run in the eighth, and another one in the ninth.

The Padres entered the game batting .220 as a team, but scored a season-high 11 runs on a season-high 18 hits Thursday night.

BRIGHT SPOTS: Two of the Mets' three runs came on David Wright's fifth home run of the season, a blast to dead-center field in the sixth inning. Wright also had a double in the first inning and a single in the eighth, upping his batting average to a major league-leading .405.

Also, Ike Davis -- who found out yesterday that he's not in danger of being demoted to Triple-A, despite his .159 batting average entering Thursday night's game -- pinch-hit in the eighth inning and laced a two-RBI double to right field.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Mets have three more cracks at the Padres over Memorial Day weekend. On Friday night at 7:10 p.m., Dillon Gee (3-3, 5.44 ERA) will be on the mound for the Mets, opposed by fellow righty Anthony Bass (2-4, 2.89 ERA) for the Padres.

The Mets have a new leadoff hitter on Thursday night, as shortstop Ronny Cedeno was penciled into the top of the lineup card by manager Terry Collins.

The 29-year-old Cedeno, who's playing in place of the injured Ruben Tejada, is batting .278 this season, with a .391 on-base percentage, in his first season with the team. Those numbers are significantly higher than his career averages of .246 and .289, respectively.

"Cedeno’s done nothing except buy in [to] exactly what we want him to do," Collins said. "He walks, his on-base [percentage is] almost .400. He’s swinging the bat very good right now.

"We’ve been looking for someone to get in that leadoff spot to get on base so that when [our] 3, 4 and 5 [hitters] come up, there’s some people up there they can drive in."

Dropping to seventh in the batting order is center fielder Andres Torres, who is batting just .187 on the season, and is just 1-for-33 in his last 11 games.

"Andres has been struggling, so I thought, 'Well, I’ll hit him down where I hit him when he first came back to the lineup, which really got him going," said Collins.

Torres missed almost all of April with a calf injury, before returning on April 30.

Before Thursday night's series opener against the San Diego Padres, manager Terry Collins provided updates on the three Mets regulars who are currently on the disabled list:

• Shortstop Ruben Tejada will run the bases on Friday, and Collins hopes Tejada will be playing in minor-league rehab games by Monday. Tejada has been out since May 6 with a strained right quadriceps.

• Catcher Josh Thole has begun baseball activities again, including hitting, but has not gotten back behind the plate yet. Collins is hoping Thole will catch for an inning in extended spring training on Friday. Thole has been out since May 7 because of a concussion.

• Left fielder Jason Bay has begun taking live batting practice, and will hopefully start playing in a minor-league rehab game as a DH next week. Bay has been out since April 23 with a fractured rib.

The Mets won't be sending Ike Davis down to Triple-A Buffalo anytime soon, according to manager Terry Collins.

Collins gave the news to Davis after the team arrived home from Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening, and informed reporters before Thursday night's game against the Padres.

"This game’s all about confidence," Collins said. "It’s all about believing in yourself. When you’re going through a slump like Ike is, you lose that confidence, you lose how you feel about things. It wears on you. He’s not sleeping well. So I thought one of the things we'd try to do is make sure he understands we believe in him. We trust him. He’s an outstanding player. We told him he’s the first baseman."

A possible demotion of Davis has been a hot topic around the Mets in recent days. Through 145 at-bats so far this season, the 25-year-old is hitting just .159, with five homers and 15 RBIs. The batting average is the second-lowest in the major leagues, behind only Milwaukee's Rickie Weeks (.155).

"Obviously they have confidence in me, and they’re backing me and they know I’m gonna get through this," said Davis. "So I’m gonna be here for a while, and it’s just up to me to start playing better."

Davis admitted that being sent back to Triple-A had weighed on his mind of late. "It’s just nice to get that out of the way and know that if I go 0-for-4 tomorrow I’m not gonna get sent down."

However, the left-handed Davis is not in the lineup on Thursday night, with the Mets facing a lefty starter, Eric Stults (Vinny Rottino will play first base and bat sixth). Collins also sat Davis against two other lefty starters on the team's just-finished road trip, but said that this will not be a strict platoon situation -- Davis will be in the lineup against some lefties.

Collins also said he liked the fact that Davis has been more aggressive at the plate of late.

As for why Collins decided to take demotion off the table for now, the manager said, "It was the easy way out. And this game’s not easy. And if he’s gonna be an outstanding major league player, he’s gotta learn to fight through some tough times.

"Every time somebody goes through a slump, we’re not sending 'em out. They gotta learn how to fight through it, and grind out at-bats, and make it work, and learn how to adjust, and he’s not gonna learn how to adjust in Buffalo."

"It’s more about winning than just me," said Davis. "Whatever Terry thinks is gonna be the best way to win this game, he’s gonna have to do it, and I back him whatever decision he makes. If I face all righties, I face all righties. If I play against lefties, I play against lefties. It doesn’t really matter to me. I’m just gonna show up every day and work, and try to get better."

The Mets notched a series victory over the Pirates on Wednesday afternoon, courtesy of their 3-1 win in Pittsburgh. Starter Jonathon Niese was outstanding, collecting his first win since April 14, after some extra pregame work.

After playing 18 of their past 25 games on the road, the Mets will now begin an 11-game homestand on Thursday night against the San Diego Padres. It's their longest stretch of the season at Citi Field.

Thursday's news reports:

• After Niese went 7-2/3 innings on Wednesday, allowing just one run on five hits, the bullpen got the job done as well. Bobby Parnell came on with two outs in the eighth, and with runners on second and third and the Mets leading 3-1, he struck out the dangerous Andrew McCutchen to end the threat. Then Frank Francisco pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 12th save. Read game recaps in the Daily News, Post, Times, Journal, Newsday, Star-Ledger and Record.

• Parnell has been so good this season out of the pen, Mets manager Terry Collins made a comparison between Parnell and Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander after Wednesday's game.

• Ike Davis went 1-for-4 on Wednesday, which actually improved his batting average from .156 to .159. But Davis is still in danger of being demoted to the minor leagues, although Collins said Wednesday that he's not sure who would replace Davis at first base. Read more in the Daily News.

Newsday's Anthony Rieber says Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy are both options at first base.

• Wednesday's game was the fifth in a row in which the Mets did not hit a ball out of the park. The Mets have just 25 home runs on the season -- that places them second-to-last in the major leagues, behind only the Padres, who have 16.

Collins would like to see his players swing for the fences a little bit more. Read more about it in the Post.

• Reliever Tim Byrdak received a rare day off on Wednesday -- Byrdak leads the major leagues in appearances this season, with 26. But neither Byrdak nor Collins seem too concerned about the workload at this point -- read more in the Record.

• Jeremy Hefner is slated to make his first major league start on Thursday for the Mets. It's a big opportunity for the 26-year-old, who left most of his belongings in a Ford F-150 parked outside Coca Cola Field in Buffalo.

Read more in the Star-Ledger, which reports in the piece that Chris Young actually went home for more than the birth of a child. He also is experiencing a lack of arm strength, which pitching coach Dan Warthen suggested was a standard spring-training "dead-arm" period. Young’s next start, originally expected for Friday, is now Saturday with Class A St. Lucie.

TRIVIA: In what year did the Mets draft Jeremy Hefner?

Wednesday's answer: The Mets own the 12th pick in next month's amateur draft.

PITTSBURGH -- Terry Collins acknowledged it was a difficult decision to pinch hit for R.A. Dickey with the knuckleballer having limited the Pirates to one run through seven innings. But the manager wanted to take a shot with Pirates starter James McDonald having departed and Dickey's slot due up first in the top of the eighth.

So Collins inserted Andres Torres in the 1-all game. Torres struck out to extend his skid to 1-for-his-last-34, but the Mets ultimately scored a pair of runs in the inning and held on for a 3-2 win on Tuesday night. Dickey notched his sixth win, taking a share of the NL lead, at least for the moment.

"When Andres strikes out, you say to yourself, 'Well, hell, R.A. could have done that,'" Collins said. "You're trying to do something. We're not swinging the bats right now. We had to try to see if we could get somebody on and get something started."

Said Dickey: "They were pitching well, too, and you've got to take a shot. I understood completely. He's got to do what he thinks is the best thing to do to win the ballgame. He's got faith in the bullpen. If Andres gets on there, it might start a rally. He's got a lot better shot than I do. Let's put it that way."

Dickey had a career-high 11 strikeouts and said he felt like he "grew" as a pitcher. He meant that he was able to control his knuckleball and have it move in the direction he wanted. Catcher Mike Nickeas said one of Dickey's most effective movements with the pitch was to have it seemingly dance upward as it approached the batter.

Dickey only threw three fastballs among his 88 pitches. The rest were knuckleballs.

In recent games, Dickey's knuckleball had been hit by opponents the third time through the order. So he had contemplated with pitching coach Dan Warthen and Nickeas going to a more conventional arsenal as the game progressed this time. But the knuckleball was so effective he never needed to deviate from using it.

"It was consistently good throughout the game, which was nice," Dickey said. "A lot of times it will leave and then come back. But tonight I felt like I had a really good one, and I had a couple of different kinds of knuckleballs tonight, which was really fun.

"I had the best feel of it. I could make it do different things, which not very often am I able to do that. A lot of times you throw it and it does what it's going to do. Tonight, mechanically, I was in a place where I could get it do a couple of different things when I wanted it to. And that's fun. That was the difference. It's not always like that."

• Tim Byrdak produced another key out, striking out lefty-hitting Pedro Alvarez to end the eighth and preserve the 3-2 lead for Frank Francisco to close out the game in the ninth. Yet with Byrdak on pace for 98 appearances, which would shatter Pedro Feliciano's club record of 92, Collins said he needs to use his second lefty, Robert Carson, as well in those situations -- for better or worse. Carson only has appeared in one major league game so far. And that was in Toronto with the Mets trailing by 13 runs.

"I've got to get Robert Carson in some of these games," Collins said. "Otherwise, Tim is going to really get tired here lately. I've got to get Robert some work -- in the tough situation. If he's going to pitch here, he's got to get used to it."

• Francisco tossed a 1-2-3 ninth and was locating his pitches far better than other recent outings. It was only the fourth time in 20 appearances as a Met that the closer did not surrender a hit or walk.

"I think Sunday's game was a huge stepping point for him," Collins said, referring to Francisco striking out three straight Blue Jays, while pitching against his former employer, to protect a lead after allowing the first two batters to reach.

Collins said Toronto manager John Farrell advised his Mets counterpart to "be patient [with Francisco], because it's there."

Francisco said he never lost confidence in himself and recognized it's not always going to be smooth sailing.

"If you stay around, you're going to see a lot of those bad games," Francisco said. "I'm ready for anything."

A reporter asked Francisco in the clubhouse postgame if he was "back."

"What do you see outside?" Francisco said.

"Looks that way," the reporter said.

"OK," Francisco said. "Cool."

Recap | Box score | Photos

WHAT IT MEANS: Lucas Duda produced a two-out, tiebreaking RBI single and third baseman Pedro Alvarez's error on a would-be inning-ending grounder by Daniel Murphy resulted in another run in the eighth.

And the Mets ultimately held on to beat Pittsburgh, 3-2, Tuesday night at PNC Park.

Barely.

Jon Rauch surrendered a one-out double to Jose Tabata in the bottom of the eighth. And Tabata scored when Murphy, racing backward into right-center from second base, could not hold on to the baseball on an over-the-shoulder catch attempt on Andrew McCutchen's flare.

With the Mets leading by a run, Tim Byrdak entered. And although McCutchen reached scoring position with a steal, Byrdak bailed the Mets out yet again by striking out the lefty-hitting Alvarez to preserve the one-run lead. It was appearance No. 28 for Byrdak, putting him on pace for 98 this season.

Frank Francisco closed it out in the ninth in unusual 1-2-3 fashion.

AARGH: R.A. Dickey nursed a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning, when Josh Harrison delivered a one-out triple. McCutchen then had a sacrifice fly to even the score.

Terry Collins opted to pulled Dickey from the tie game in the top of the eighth, with the knuckleballer’s pitch count only at 88. Andres Torres pinch hit and struck out, extending his skid to 1-for-his-last-34.

Dickey recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts. He limited the Pirates to one run on five hits with no walks in seven innings.

WRIGHT WATCH: David Wright went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as his average dipped to .403. He left two runners on base in the eighth when he fanned against reliever Juan Cruz, before Duda came through with the two-out RBI single. Wright had struck out three times in a game on only one other instance this season -- April 30 at Houston against Bud Norris (twice) and Brandon Lyon.

NOT O-K: Ike Davis went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts -- both looking. He now has fanned 43 times in 141 at-bats. Davis is 2-for-his-last-33 with 11 strikeouts since homering against Miami's Mark Buehrle on May 11.

WHAT'S NEXT: Jon Niese (2-2, 4.85 ERA) opposes right-hander Charlie Morton (2-4, 4.35) in Wednesday's 12:35 p.m. series finale.

PITTSBURGH -- Mike Baxter and Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a communications gaffe on an eighth-inning fly ball, resulting in a three-base error, and Clint Barmes followed with a game-deciding sacrifice fly as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Mets, 5-4, Monday at PNC Park.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was Pittsburgh's biggest come-from-behind victory since June 1, 2009, also against the Mets -- when a five-run lead for the Amazin's turned into an 8-5 loss that included five straight batters reaching against J.J. Putz in a five-run eighth. Putz made only one more appearance as a Met, also in that series, before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery.

The Pirates' string of 160 straight games trailing by four-plus runs without a comeback victory was the second-longest in MLB history, according to Elias. Only the the Washington Senators, who had 178 straight losses when they trailed by four-plus runs from 1906 to 1910, had a longer drought.

Tuesday's news reports:

• Johan Santana could not hold a four-run lead. He surrendered a game-tying two-run homer to No. 8 hitter Michael McKenry in the seventh. His record stands at 1-2 after nine starts this season.

• Read game recaps in the Post, Record, Star-Ledger, Newsday, Times and Daily News.

• Josh Thole and Jason Bay have headed to Florida to ramp up activity, while Ruben Tejada could be the first of trio to return from the disabled list -- as soon as next weekend. Thole, cleared for baseball activities two weeks after suffering a concussion, is aiming to appear in a minor league game for the first time May 28. Tejada (quadriceps) has been running in Port St. Lucie. He could be in a minor league rehab game as soon as Wednesday. Bay (fractured rib) is due to start taking batting practice from coaches that day, and soon thereafter may advance to minor league action, initially as a DH. Read more in the Star-Ledger.

• Andres Torres is 1-for-his-last-29. Terry Collins plans to sit him Tuesday and start Nieuwenhuis in center, with Baxter in left field.

• Ike Davis sat against another left-hander, Erik Bedard, but entered Monday for defense in the sixth inning and eventually struck out in both of his ensuing at-bats. Davis is now hitting .161. A demotion may be looming, potentially coinciding with the return of a player from the DL. Collins met with Davis in the visiting manager's office at PNC Park before Monday's game. Read more in the Journal, Post, Newsday, Times and Daily News.

• Vinny Rottino rejoined the Mets on Monday from Triple-A Buffalo and made his first major league start at first base. Chris Schwinden was optioned back to the Bisons. With Miguel Batista landing on the DL, Jeremy Hefner has been confirmed as Thursday's starter against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field.

• Terry Collins expressed appreciation for umpire Brian Knight acknowledging missing Saturday night's call, when Baxter was ruled out at second base in Toronto.

• Michael Salfino in the Journal tries to reconcile the Mets' winning record with their run differential. He notes a few lopsided losses skew the results somewhat, but counters that the Mets have been outslugged with homers by a wide margin. Writes Salfino:

In the standings, they look like a contender. Entering Monday, they were a surprising 22-19. But on the stat sheet -- and we're not talking doctorate-level statistics here -- they look overmatched. They've been outscored by 31 runs, the fifth-worst mark in baseball. Even the 15-25 Colorado Rockies (minus-27) have been better. The Mets are on pace to finish 87-75 while being outscored by 122 runs. This would be a rather historic achievement: All-time, the worst run differential by a winning team belonged to the 1905 Detroit Tigers (minus-90), who went 79-74. The Mets' current record is about five games better than what's expected from a team with that poor of a run differential, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

• Salfino also notes in the Journal that the Mets bullpen has protected leads for R.A. Dickey remarkably well -- in 21 of 22 games in which the knuckleballer has left in a position to win during his Mets career. According to the article, the bullpen has failed to hold 14 of 50 potential wins for Santana during his Mets career.

• Pitching coach Dan Warthen wants Jon Niese to prepare more for unfamiliar opponents, Mike Puma writes in the Post. "He’s had a couple of poor games against teams he doesn’t know very well,” Warthen told Puma. “A couple of us talked to him the other day and told him he could do a little bit better with the studying of hitters.”

TRIVIA: Who holds the record for career runs scored in a Mets uniform?

Monday's answer: The yellow bridge spanning the Allegheny River adjacent to PNC Park is named for the late Roberto Clemente.

PITTSBURGH -- Ike Davis’ funk gets plenty of attention, but Andres Torres is in quite a rut as well.

Torres went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts Monday night, including leaving the go-ahead run at third base in the top of the eighth. A half-inning later, a costly dropped ball in left-center by Kirk Nieuwenhuis lifted the Pirates to a 5-4 victory.

Torres is 1-for-his-last-29 as his average has tumbled to .189.

Terry Collins said Torres will sit Tuesday, with Nieuwenhuis starting in center field and Mike Baxter in left field.

As for how he managed the late innings, Collins said that with so many players having issues at the plate, he cannot pinch hit for everybody.

With one out in the eighth and the potential go-ahead run at third base, Collins allowed Mike Nickeas to hit. He struck out.

Baxter then pinch-hit in the pitcher’s slot and was intentionally walked. Torres made the final out, with Daniel Murphy being held back for a ninth-inning pinch-hitting assignment off the bench.

Asked why he did not use Murphy and Baxter for, say, Nickeas and the pitcher, Collins said about the scenario: “I’m burning them all in the eighth inning in a tie game. You look up, Murph hits for Nickeas, Baxter hits in the ninth hole, you don’t score, you’re out of players in a tie game.”

Collins had pulled Scott Hairston from the game in the bottom of the sixth when he wanted to upgrade his defense at first base with Johan Santana trying to protect a 4-2 lead. Vinny Rottino started the game at first base, but moved to left field when Hairston was removed so Davis could take over at first.

Davis, incidentally, struck out in both plate appearances after being inserted.

PITTSBURGH -- Former major league umpire Rocky Roe was Terry Collins' roommate at Eastern Michigan University, so the Mets manager always has tried to be deferential to umpires.

And Collins appreciated a reciprocal gesture at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Brian Knight, a third-year umpire who hails from Montana, apologized Sunday morning for the blown ninth-inning call the previous night that resulted in Mike Baxter being erased from the bases as the potential tying run in what became a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays.

"The one thing I've always truly believed, and obviously times are changing due to the technology, but I've always believed in the human error in our game," Collins said. "There hasn't been one game in all the years I've been watching this that you've put a pitcher in, or you've made a move -- or you pinch hit somebody, and the guy struck out with the bases loaded -- where the umpire came over, took his mask off and said, 'What are you, (expletive) crazy making that move?' Not one time has that ever happened.

"So I said, 'Look, nothing needs to be said. We all know what the result was. It's past us. There's nothing we can do about that now.' And I believe that. I believe there's always room for the umpire-manager disagreement. Everybody wants to curb that. Everybody wants to keep the game flowing. They don't want to have those kind of confrontations."

Collins said the Sunday morning conversation did not include whether Knight really did have the ability to ask for help from other umpires to determine whether Baxter was in fact tagged by Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar. Still, Collins added, in informal conversations with other people since Saturday's incident he was told "that they can always ask."

Regardless, Collins said a mea culpa such as occurred this weekend is extremely rare from an umpire, so he genuinely appreciated Knight's gesture.

Brandon Morrow tossed a three-hit shutout and the Mets lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-0, Saturday at Rogers Centre. Dillon Gee starts Sunday's 1:07 p.m. game, trying to prevent the Amazin's from getting swept north of the border.

Regarding the Mets' offense, Terry Collins said, the Mets can't be patient to a fault in driving up pitch counts.

"We’ve got to start grinding out some at-bats," Collins said. "It goes back to exactly what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, and that's: It’s not about taking pitches. It’s about being patient, and when you get the pitch you want, hit it. Brandon was in the strike zone today. He was making good pitches early in the count. And we're down early, 0-1, 0-2. I don’t want these guys to think they've got to go up there and just take the good pitches they can hit."

Sunday's news reports:

• Miguel Batista was forced to leave Saturday's game after tossing two scoreless innings because of a pulled muscle in his lower back. Jeremy Hefner, promoted from Triple-A Buffalo, entered in relief and limited the Jays to two runs in five innings but was charged with the loss. Chris Schwinden will arrive Sunday in Toronto as a taxi-squad member, and presumably has a good chance of being activated as a hedge against Gee having a short outing, with Batista landing on the DL.

Jordany Valdespin had been demoted before Saturday's game to make room for Hefner. Valdespin will play second base with the Bisons. The Mets will promote a position player before Monday's game in Pittsburgh, Collins indicated. Collins said Hefner would start in Batista's place Thursday at Citi Field if the 41-year-old right-hander lands on the DL. Read more in Newsday, the Record, Star-Ledger and Post.

• Mike Baxter was ruled out at second base in the ninth inning on an apparent blown call. Had Baxter been credited with a double, the Mets would have had two runners in scoring position with one out in the ninth, trailing by two runs. Read more in the Post.

• Read game recaps in the Post, Times, Star-Ledger, Newsday, Record and Daily News.

• There's no indication Ike Davis is in imminent danger of a demotion. But the number of notable names getting demoted is, well, notable. First, the Braves sent Jair Jurrjens to Triple-A Gwinnett. First baseman Adam Lind is reportedly on waivers for the purpose of being removed from the 40-man roster and demoted by the Blue Jays. And, now, first baseman Gaby Sanchez, who was hitting .197 with one homer with Miami, has been demoted too. “We don’t think he’s a .190 hitter,” Marlins GM Michael Hill told the Miami Herald about Sanchez, an All-Star last season. “We think he’s better than he’s showing here. We think he’s pressing. We want to take some of the pressure off him, get him down to Triple-A, and get him right.” Davis is hitting .160 after going 0-for-3 Saturday in Toronto.

• Pedro Beato began an official rehab assignment Saturday night with Class A St. Lucie, tossing two scoreless innings. He is on the 60-day DL because of a shoulder issue that arose during spring training. Jenrry Mejia, meanwhile, allowed one run on six hits while striking out three and walking none in three innings for Double-A Binghamton. He threw only 48 pitches in his first Double-A start since Tommy John surgery, but Sandy Alderson said that roughly was the prescribed length. Mejia had higher pitch counts in two previous starts for St. Lucie. Also Saturday, Vinny Rottino had three homers for Triple-A Buffalo. Read the Saturday's full minor league recap here.

• David Wright was sicker Saturday than the previous day and was unavailable. Still, he already has informed Collins he wants to play Sunday. Read more in the Daily News.

• Anthony McCarron pens a feature in the Daily News celebrating Wright's leadership by example. Regarding Wright bickering with Collins in the dugout because he wanted to remain in Tuesday's game against Milwaukee to get drilled as payback for D.J. Carrasco hitting Ryan Braun, Ron Darling said: “I think there were probably people on the bench who didn’t understand what the hullabaloo was about at all and were taught a valuable lesson. 'What? Get hit? Who wants to get hit?’ He basically said, 'I know how the game is played and I know what we have to do in certain situations and I’m willing to do that.' David is one of those rare current players who could’ve played in any generation. There is a real courage in the way he plays the game. Guy played three weeks with a back that was broken last year, hits a homer with a broken finger because he knows his team needs him. I watch him play, and it makes me proud that I was part of the fraternity.”

• Collins believes Ruben Tejada (quadriceps) could be in a minor league rehab game as soon as Monday. Jason Bay (fractured rib) may take batting practice that day in Pittsburgh. Chris Young, who took a brief break with his wife due to give birth, is expected to resume his comeback with Class A St. Lucie on Friday. It will be Young's third minor league start with the Florida State League club since May 16, 2011 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his right shoulder.

• David Lennon in Newsday reviews the early impact of the wall changes at Citi Field. He notes Gee's amusement at hearing during the trip to Miami's new ballpark about Marlins players already expressing discontent with the cavernous dimensions. As a result of the Citi Field changes, there have been 10 additional homers this season that would have remained in play under the old configuration -- six by opponents, four by the Mets (Kirk Nieuwenhuis 2, Lucas Duda, Wright). "I enjoy it," Wright told Lennon. "Obviously, it's smaller, so I enjoy that. But it's tough, I guess, to describe the effect that it has because it's still relatively early. A lot of how the ball carries has to do with the weather, and the weather has been chilly, rainy and windy."

Still, Citi Field has not become a homer haven. Writes Lennon:

Through the first 20 home games, there have been 26 home runs hit at Citi Field, and that frequency of 1.3 per game is tied (with Wrigley Field) for 13th-best in the National League . Only AT&T Park (0.84), PETCO Park (0.96) and Marlins Park (1.24) had produced fewer. Before Citi's changes are deemed inconsequential, however, consider this: According to ESPN Home Run Tracker, 10 home runs needed the new dimensions to clear the walls, and if there were only 16 home runs to this point, that drops the average rate to a minuscule 0.80 -- the lowest in either league. "It's only a small sample size," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. "But at the same time, that's still a dramatic impact."

Jeff Wilpon told Lennon: "It doesn't look like a sore thumb sticking out, in the terms of the changes that we made. I think it's been very successful in that sense. We knew it wouldn't make a huge difference -- we wanted it to be a moderate difference. ... I wish we were hitting more home runs, either with the benefit of the changes or without the benefits."

• Tyler Kepner in the Times pays homage to Chipper Jones, who is due to retire at season's end. Writes Kepner:

In Chicago, the Cubs gave him a Braves flag that flew above the scoreboard at Wrigley Field. In Denver, the Rockies gave him a camera to mount on his hunting bow. The Houston Astros gave him a cowboy hat, and the St. Louis Cardinals presented a jersey signed by Stan Musial. “It was really cool in St. Louis when he came up to bat,” Braves reliever Craig Kimbrel said. “They kind of stopped the game. They were already losing in the first inning, but he came up to bat and got a standing ovation.”

Jones told Kepner about last year's Braves historic collapse relative to the team's current success (25-16, first place): "It’s really gratifying because the guys went home in the offseason and used what happened in September as a motivational tool. I’ve said this all along: If we end up winning an Eastern Division championship or a National League championship or a World Series in the next couple of years, I guarantee you all these players will look back at September and say we learned a lot.”

• Critic Bob Raissman in the Daily News praises Collins as a straight shooter. Writes Raissman:

While The Prince of Darkness, John Tortorella, continues perfecting his mummified style, Terry Collins is out in Queens shedding light. The Mets manager will never be cast as Mr. Sunshine. He illuminates by speaking the truth. That’s why the media rarely has a discouraging word about him. Of all the head mouths in town, Collins is the straightest shooter.

• Columnist Jeff Bradley in the Star-Ledger compares the 1993 Yankees to the 2012 Mets in terms of success despite low expectations. Warning: extensive Paul O'Neill quoting.

TRIVIA: Who was the last Pittsburgh Pirate to have a multi-homer game against the Mets?

Saturday's answer: Mike Jacobs was traded to Toronto for a player to be named or cash in the last swap between the Mets and Jays, on July 30, 2010.

TORONTO -- Terry Collins said he would not have left the dugout to argue with second base ump Brian Knight if the manager could not clearly see from his vantage point that Yunel Escobar had missed a tag on Mike Baxter at second base in the ninth inning.

Baxter was ruled out, taking the tying run off second base and leaving the Mets one out from a loss. Daniel Murphy then lined out to strand Scott Hairston at third base and end Toronto’s 2-0 victory.

“He said he thought he tagged him on the back,” Collins said, referring to Knight. “I just thought if he didn’t have a good view of it to ask. And he said he couldn’t. That was it.

"I could see it. That’s why I went out there. I wouldn’t have gone out there if I thought he was out. I think sometimes we go out there when we really don’t have any basis for it. But I knew he missed the tag, so I went out there. He said that’s a play they can’t ask. I pretty much had no argument after that.”

Baxter went into politically correct mode after the game, beyond saying he did not feel a tag.

“We got to a good spot there, kind of like we’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks, coming back late in the game,” Baxter said. “Those umpires, they’re great. They’re very, very skilled at what they do. Tonight it didn’t work out in our favor.”

At the time of the call, Baxter pounded his helmet into the ground a couple of times, then flipped it aside at second base before Collins picked up the argument.

“I hate doing that,” Baxter said. “I’m not trying to show anybody up. I definitely got caught in the moment there. It’s not what you want to do on the field.”