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A scout who watched Oliver Perez during the Mexican winter league playoffs said he was not close to the Mets' internal reports of sitting at 88 mph and topping out at 92 mph. The scout said in the game he watched, Perez hit 88 mph in the first inning and mostly sat at 86 mph.

• After quizzing Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post about the Marlins' plans, it appears the opening series rotation will be: Mike Pelfrey vs. Josh Johnson on April 1, followed by Jon Niese vs. Ricky Nolasco and R.A. Dickey vs. Javier Vazquez.

• Left-hander Les Walrond was borrowed from minor league camp and is on the trip, so it turns out the Mets have signed Les Walrond. Walrond, 34, made 23 major league appearances between 2003 and '08 with the Royals, Cubs and Phillies. He and Casey Fossum could be left-handers at Triple-A Buffalo.

• Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets: With John Maine, his shot might come in mid April. He hit 92 mph five times on gun yesterday. Need to see how shoulder recovers with use, but he could be pleasant surprise. Rockies have had a history of landing bounceback guys. Maine could fall into that category.

• I do not get the sense the Phillies would be interested in Luis Castillo if Chase Utley's knee woes sideline him for a prolonged period.

Ex-Met John Maine will sign with the Colorado Rockies, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports. He will receive a minor league deal.

Crasnick reported the Phillies and Royals were among six or seven clubs interested in Maine. He has an "out" clause if he does not make Colorado's major league squad.

John Maine remains unsigned, but the Philadelphia Phillies continue to appear the most likely landing spot for the right-hander, a baseball source told ESPNNewYork.com.

Maine's agent Rex Gary recently suggested the former Met is feeling good following last year's shoulder surgery.

Former Mets right-hander John Maine "feels great," is "throwing well" and "teams are watching him closely," agent Rex Gary said.

Maine underwent shoulder surgery during last season. He was cut loose by the Mets because he made $3.3 million last season and was arbitration-eligible.

The Philadelphia Phillies' rotation may be the fearsome foursome, but they are looking into adding some insurance. The Phillies have had discussions about adding John Maine to their depth of starters, Maine's agent, Rex Gary, confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.

Gary said the Phillies aren't the only team with whom he is talking about Maine.

"We have spoken to a lot of teams and there is a lot of interest," Gary said.

The Phillies have five starters with Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. However, Blanton could be dealt to free up money and, like all rotations, there will be injury concerns.

Maine knows plenty about injuries. After making $3.3 million in 2010, he was non-tendered by the Mets prior to the deadline for arbitration largely because of his inability to stay healthy. His shoulder problems limited him to 39 2/3 innings last season. He underwent season-ending surgery in July to repair a capsule tear in his right shoulder. Gary said Maine has recovered very well.

It would seem likely that Maine would have to accept a minor league deal, but Gary would not get into the particulars. Maine turns 30 in May.

Sean Green is out with the Mets at the non-tender deadline, while John Maine also was cut loose by the organization at the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. In an unexpected move, the Mets also dumped Chris Carter, who was not yet even arbitration-eligible.

The reason for Carter may center on the fact that had he been assigned to Triple-A Buffalo next season, he still would have been required to make at least 60 percent of this past season's salary -- which would mean a $200,000-plus minor league salary. The Mets are now allowed to re-sign him if both sides choose, with a new split contract that calls for a far lower salary should he be assigned to the minors. Of course, Carter also had defensive limitations that did not make him ideal for a National League bench.

Read the full news story here.

Here is a look at the week ahead for the Mets:

Tuesday: The deadline for Pedro Feliciano to accept or reject the Mets’ arbitration offer. Agent Melvin Roman told Newsday the durable left-handed reliever is considering accepting, but that may be mostly designed to entice other teams to put in bids. If Feliciano accepts, he returns on a one-year deal. An arbitrator could award him as much as $4 million if Feliciano accepts and the team and Roman cannot agree on a number before the hearing.

But how bad would the market have to be for Feliciano to accept? If there’s likely to be even a two-year, $7 million deal out there at some point this offseason, the extra guaranteed year is probably worth making an average salary of $3.5 million a year over the potential to earn $4 million in one year with the Mets.

If Feliciano declines, it does not preclude the Mets from re-signing him this offseason, which differentiates this from the situation with Hisanori Takahashi, who is definitely headed elsewhere. By offering Feliciano arbitration, the Mets will pick up a supplemental draft pick between the first and second rounds if Feliciano ultimately signs elsewhere.

The problem is that if Feliciano does go elsewhere, the Mets must bring in a couple of left-handed relievers anyway. That’s because Pat Misch is probably the best major league-ready bullpen option from the left side right now, with prospect Eric Niesen (4-6, 5.14 ERA at Double-A Binghamton last season) probably needing to develop more consistency in the minors after walking 60 batters and hitting 10 batters in 77 innings with the B-Mets.

The Mets’ bullpen in general needs an overhaul, with not much to count on besides Francisco Rodriguez and Bobby Parnell.

You can view the list of available relievers on ESPN’s Free Agent Tracker here.

Thursday: Two days after Feliciano’s decision is the nontender deadline. That’s when teams cut loose some arbitration-eligible players (who have between three and six years of major league service time).

Since an arbitration-eligible player needs to make at least 80 percent of his previous year’s salary -- and players rarely receive salary cuts in the arbitration process -- the Mets have to cut loose John Maine by Thursday.

Maine made $3.3 million last season, so even the lowball 80 percent figure -- $2.64 million -- is too much to guarantee.

Maine has indicated he is recovering well from July 24 shoulder surgery performed in Philadelphia by Dr. Michael Ciocotti, who is not affiliated with the Mets, to repair a tear in the capsule.

The more interesting decision will come with right-handed reliever Sean Green. The lone remaining piece from the three-team, 12-player trade that also brought in J.J. Putz and Jeremy Reed on Dec. 11, 2008, the Mets made Green a Chad Bradford-style dropdown reliever last spring training. Green believes the unfamiliar delivery of the submarine motion caused the stress fracture in a rib that landed him on the disabled list into August after one April appearance.

Under the old regime, Green -- who has returned to his customary three-quarters arm slot -- appeared headed out. But given the fact that he made $975,000 last season, and with the lack of bullpen arms under control, perhaps the new front office will make a different evaluation.

It’s unlikely Green would warrant a raise. So if evaluators do not like what they see in spring training, they could just cut him a check for 30 days’ pay in March -- roughly $160,000 -- and bid farewell then.

Next week: The winter meetings will be held Dec. 6-9 at Disney’s Dolphin & Swan hotels.

“A Single in First Spoils No-Hitter” read the New York Times headline on June 23, 1962, the day after Al Jackson pitched the Mets first one-hitter against the Colt 45’s (now known as the Astros), allowing nothing after Joe Amalfitano’s single in the first game of a doubleheader.

That headline writer must have known something was in the fates that deemed that we’d still be talking about how the Mets have never thrown a no-hitter, 48 years later.

R.A. Dickey, pitching tonight against the Astros, was the latest tease—throwing the Mets 35th one-hitter, a Cole Hamels single away from history, against the Phillies last Friday. Mets fans don’t have much to celebrate these days (fans of other teams have celebrated 125 no-hitters since 1962), so it seems worthwhile to enjoy what are the best of the near-bests at this time.

In our attempt to be the “Ulti’met” team historian, we’ve armed ourselves with newspaper reports and internet accounts of all 35 games, supplemented those with a few audio and video tape airings, and studied up on the subject, in an effort to offer the most comprehensive descriptions and accounts possible. Follow along carefully -- there’s a lot to detail.

First we must tell how the Mets would lose the second game of Jackson’s doubleheader, 16-3, and something would happen in that one that hasn’t happened in any game since. The baseball gods must have been laughing as Colts pitcher Jim Golden tripled twice in the rout (Golden was golden; he’d go 5-0 against the 120-loss Mets).

Since 1962 -- Pitcher multi-triple games: 1, Mets no-hitters: 0.

The no-no is still verboten in Metville to this day.

Speaking of pitcher’s hitting, four have been responsible for the only hit of a Mets one-hitter, most recently Hamels last Friday. The first of those moundsmen, Ray Sadecki would later pitch for the Mets. He’d bust Jack Hamilton’s bid with a third-inning 20-foot bunt single along the third base line, perhaps the shortest hit in all the Mets one-hitters.

Ah, the bunt hit, forbidden by the unwritten rules of some from busting no-hitters, but welcomed early in the game when the thought of a no-hitter is not on anyone’s mind, save for obsessive Mets fans like Dirk Lammers, who runs the website Nonohitters.com, which tracks Mets no-hit bids game-by game, sending alerts via Twitter when an opponent gets the first hit of the game.

Sometimes that doesn't take long. Trot Nixon of the Red Sox got a bunt hit in the first inning on July 15, 2001, the day of Bobby Valentine’s 1,000th major league managerial victory, a combined one-hitter for Glendon Rusch and Armando Benitez.

The lone hit was a push bunt between the mound and first base, one fielded by Lenny Harris, whose throw to covering second basemen Edgardo Alfonzo was late. It’s a history mystery what might have happened had Rusch fielded the ball (he said afterwards he should have), but alas this no-hit bid turned out to be the 22nd one-hitter in team annals.

“I loved Glendon because of the attitude he brought to the park,” Valentine said recently. “I wish he could have pitched for me every day. He was the perfect choice for my 1,000th win.”

Just not perfect enough for a no-hitter.

Nor was Bobby Jones one-hit shutout of the Giants in Game 4 of the 2000 NLDS. Jones’ wife Kristi told Valentine that her husband would pitch “the game of his life” that day. He did, and were it not for a fifth-inning line drive from Jeff Kent that just got over the glove of leaping third baseman Robin Ventura, it could’ve, would’ve, should’ve been a no-hitter.

“I wish Robin was 7-foot-4, so he could have caught it,” Jones said a few years later. “But he saved me many a time.”

Joe Morgan, announcing the game for ESPN said after Jones got the final out : “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game pitched this well, other than a perfect game.”

Others might beg to differ.

The Mets pitcher to come closest to a perfect game was Tom Seaver, whose bid lasted 8 1/3 innings on July 9, 1969, broken by a clean single to center from Cubs centerfielder Jimmy Qualls. When Qualls reached first base, who was there to greet him but Cubs coach Joey Amalfitano -- the same guy who had the only hit in Al Jackson's one-hitter in 1962.

Seaver would describe Qualls in his post-game press conference as “a sticky little hitter.” That also seems an apt name for David Eckstein, who had the only hit in the first of two Steve Trachsel one-hitters as a Met, this one featuring the fewest strikeouts (one) against the Angels in 2003.

Trachsel's other Mets close call was broken up by someone with the fewest career hits of anyone to have the only hit in a Mets one-hitter: Rockies starter Chun-hui Tsao (the first of two career hits) in the sixth inning of a game in 2003.

Seaver’s five one-hitters are the most in Mets history. His second was a 15-strikeout effort against the Phillies on May 15, 1970 that scores highest in Bill James Game Score metric (a 98) of any of the 198 games Seaver won as a Met.

It was the second time in a month that the Phillies fell victim to a 15 strikeout one-hitter, part of a two-year streak in which the Mets shut them out five times in a row (the 2010 squad would be envious). Nolan Ryan had the other, his best performance as a Met prior to being traded, beating future Hall of Famer (and past perfect-game vs the Mets-tosser) Jim Bunning.

It was also the second time in three days that the Mets came that close to a no-hitter. Gary Gentry pitched a one-hitter against the Cubs two days prior.

Hall of Famer Ernie Banks lined an eighth-inning single to left field, which may have been caught by left fielder Dave Marshall had wet grass not caused him to slip in his initial pursuit.

“I thought it would be caught,” Banks, who’d hit his 500th homer the day before, told the media after the game, but Marshall was only able to nick the ball with his glove before it dropped in.

THAT one was close. So was Dwight Gooden’s against the Cubs at Shea on September 7, 1984. Gooden had told Valentine, then the club’s third base coach, that he’d no-hit the Cubs someday. Had third baseman Ray Knight been able to get Keith Moreland’s slow roller in the fifth inning out of his glove, he might’ve kept Gooden’s bid intact. Instead, there was no grip, no throw, and no no-no.

The glory days passed Gooden by, but for the Mets one-hitter, the best of times were the early 1970s, with the team netting eight of the 80 thrown in the majors from 1970 to 1974, and the 2000s, in which they had at least one one-hitter from 2000 to 2008.

Seaver and Gary Gentry each tossed one against the world-champion Pirates in 1971, the latter broken up by Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente’s sixth-inning triple. Seaver would throw another vs the Padres on July 4, 1972. Leron Lee, father of Derrek, snapped that one with San Diego's only hit with one out in the ninth inning.

Seaver also had the Mets longest no-hit bid, against the Cubs in 1975 (halted by a Joe Wallis single with two outs in the ninth) but that doesn’t make the list because the game would go extra-innings and the Mets would lose 1-0, the victims of four hits and a game-ending bases-loaded walk.

The last of Seaver's Mets one-hitters came against the Cubs on April 17, 1977. In the fifth inning, Mets catcher John Stearns thought Seaver had Cubs third baseman Steve Ontiveros struck out, but umpire Andy Olsen called the pitch a ball. On 3-2, Ontiveros hit a bloop to right field, for which Ed Kranepool dove, but missed by inches.

Seaver would get his no-hitter on June 16, 1978 -- a year and a day after being traded to the Reds. And we should note that in his last appearance for the Mets, he allowed no hits -- albeit in one inning pitched on the next-to-last day of the 1983 season.

Was one of Seaver’s games the best Mets-pitched one-hitter?

The combo from John Maine (7 2/3 innings), Willie Collazo and Carlos Muniz against the Marlins on September 29, 2007 (the day before Tom Glavine gakked up the season), featured 14 strikeouts from Maine, and only a dink infield hit from Marlins catcher Paul Hoover. That one makes the most reasonable case among the most recent efforts.

Dickey's wasn't even the best this season. Jonathon Niese joined Seaver with the only one-baserunner, one-hitter earlier in the year against the Padres.

Niese and Dickey both make the list of unlikely one-hitter throwers, joining submariner Terry Leach, who threw a 10-inning one-hitter against the Phillies (ex-Mets coach Luis Aguayo had the only hit) in his second major league start on October 1, 1982, and not-so-well-liked Aaron Heilman, whose no-no attempt against the 2005 Marlins was broken up by an infield hit by current not-so-liked Met, Luis Castillo.

---

We break up this story on one-hitters to tell you that:

• The most Mets wins without a one-hitter: Jerry Koosman, 140

• The Mets have one-hit a soon-to-be World Series champ three times. We mentioned the two against the 1971 Pirates. The other -- a Jae Seo, David Weathers, Armando Benitez team effort against the 2003 Marlins, just before the beginning of a run in which the Marlins went 57-33 and won the wild card.

• Seven times, more than one pitcher has been required to complete a Mets one hitter. Current Mets analyst Ron Darling and Jesse Orosco paired on the first of those-- against the Pirates on April 17, 1985. The Mets enlisted the assistance of first baseman Keith Hernandez in that one-- his ninth-inning sac fly brought in the winning run.

• The Padres, who also have never thrown a no-hitter, have 24 one-hitters, including four against the Mets (one in each of four straight seasons from 1991 to 1994). The face of the Padres franchise, Tony Gwynn was the final out of a no-hitter by the Braves in 1991, but avoided any dubious distinction with a fourth-inning double, the only hit in a David Cone one-hitter for the Mets in 1988.

• This isn't the only thing the Mets haven't done. What's more likely to come first: A Mets no-hitter, or a Mets hitter homering three times in a game AT HOME? Neither has ever happened.

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Seaver and Ryan are the two Mets who have pitched a one-hitter who are in the Hall of Fame, likely to be joined eventually by Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez, who gets partial credit for lasting four innings in a one-hitter against the Rockies on July 12, 2008 (four relievers finished the deal).

We’ll give an honorable mention to Shawn Estes, recently inducted into the Giants Wall of Fame. Estes threw a one-hitter for the Mets against the Brewers on April 26, 2002, beating the last Met to combine on one, Glendon Rusch, 1-0.

This bid was broken up by future ESPN baseball analyst Eric Young’s seventh-inning single. That’s not surprising given that Young hit .417 against Estes in the 36 at-bats in which they went head-to-head, though Estes got the last laugh by getting Young for the game’s final out.

Estes couldn’t win enough (his four wins as a Met are fewest among the one-hitter tossers), and the Mets don’t always win one-hitters. They’re 33-2 when they throw one, losing most recently to the Astros in 2006.

Cone and Jeff Innis lost their combined one-hitter to the Cardinals on September 14, 1991, but Cone would come back with a winning one-hitter against St. Louis in his next start (the only hit being a Felix Jose double to the warning track in left-center in the eighth inning).

“I wanted to treat these fans to something special,” Cone told reporters afterwards.

Those 1991 Mets would tease fans by throwing three one-hitters in an 11-day span near season's end (Pete Schourek had the other against the Expos, broken up by current White Sox GM Ken Williams), but couldn’t save the job of their skipper, Bud Harrelson, who would be fired a little more than a week later.

Harrelson held the Mets record for most one-hitters played in (of at least nine innings), with eight, until this year, when Jose Reyes surpassed him. Reyes also played in two rain-shortened one-hitters (by Glavine and John Maine) in 2007.

Reyes should remember the previously mentioned Trachsel one-hitter against the Angels well—it came the same day as his first big league grand slam.

That's a better memory than Mets legend Darryl Strawberry has of the one-hitter thrown against the Phillies by Sid Fernandez and Roger McDowell on May 11, 1985.

Strawberry tore ligaments in his thumb, preserving a then no-no with a third inning catch of a Juan Samuel fly ball, an injury that cost him 43 games, and may have made the difference in the Mets failing to beat out the Cardinals in the NL East race.

Strawberry came back from injury to help the Mets to the World Series title the next season. Jon Matlack came back from injury (a fractured skull suffered by being hit with a line drive) to nearly do so in 1973 (the Mets lost the World Series in seven games). But in lieu of a World Series, Matlack, who remembered throwing eight no-hitters in high school, threw one-hitters in both 1973 and 1974.

Matlack now works as the Tigers roving pitching instructor. Earlier this year, he tutored Armando Galarraga, not long before Galarraga threw his "imperfect game" against the Indians, so he can relate to what the Mets are going through in more ways than one.

"I think it's just bad luck," Matlack said, when asked for a former player's perspective on why we're celebrating Mets one-hitters instead of no-hitters. "The fates that go into it ... The baseball gods just haven't smiled on the Mets yet."

Maybe tonight.

John Maine underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean out scar tissue from his right shoulder on Friday in Philadelphia, with a doctor unaffiliated with the team. He is out for the season. Given Maine is making $3.3 million this season and is arbitration-eligible, he is certain to be a nontender in December and a free agent at that point. That means his Mets career may very well be over. Maine's last outing came May 20 at Washington, when he was pulled after five pitches against his will with sagging velocity. He originally underwent surgery on the shoulder on Sept. 30, 2008 to remove a bony growth from the socket.

Jerry Manuel suggested any confrontations with Maine, such as in D.C. over the right-hander's removal from the game, were not based on any animosity. Rather, the manager suggested, it was about protecting Maine from himself by not allowing him to pitch with an injury and exacerbating the issue.

"I was getting on John Maine for hurting John Maine," Manuel said. "That's what a lot of people don't understand. ... Our argument was, 'You're hurting yourself and I'm not going to let you do it.'"

More here

Left-hander Oliver Perez, officially on the disabled list since June 5 with right knee tendinitis, tossed a 90-pitch simulated game in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Thursday. Although team officials have made no official pronouncement, it's expected that Perez will appear in a minor league game as soon as Tuesday.

As was the case with Carlos Beltran appearing in a minor league game Thursday, that will start a clock on activating Perez from the disabled list. For a position player such as Beltran, a rehab assignment can last only 20 days. For a pitcher, it can last 30 days.

Perez is expected to be joined at the Mets' complex in Florida this weekend by John Maine. A team source indicated Maine could begin another rehab assignment in the minors in about 10 days.

Finally, reliever Sean Green -- who has been sidelined since mid-April by what turned out to be a fractured rib -- is about to step on a mound. Green has been throwing on flat ground.

Here are your injury updates:

Jerry Manuel is still optimistic that Angel Pagan will be able to play as soon as Friday. If not Friday, then on Saturday, Manuel thinks. Pagan has a muscle strain on his side.

Rod Barajas woke up with a tight back. He is not starting, but Manuel said he is available if need be.

John Maine is headed down to St. Lucie to begin a throwing program for his bad shoulder. No word when -- if ever -- he will be back.

John Maine's doctor confirmed the original diagnosis of right shoulder
tendenitis, according to Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz.

The Mets' team doctor and Maine's doctor both said he has no structural damage.
The Mets and Maine are going to work on coming up with a suitable plan for
Maine's rehab. There is no word on when Maine could possibly pitch again.

Could the starting pitchers’ success going deep into games ultimately result in Jenrry Mejia heading to the minors?

Jerry Manuel again floated that idea Sunday morning, although the manager continues to want to keep the rookie right-hander at the major league level. Manuel noted, however, that if Mejia is responsible for the seventh inning and starting pitchers are largely completing that inning, other team officials likely will push for Mejia to go to the minors.

Mejia has not pitched since Wednesday in Cleveland, and has logged only 3 2/3 innings in the past two weeks.

“He’s still a very young pitcher,” Manuel said. “We were hoping -- at least I was hoping -- that about this time he would have taken over the eighth inning. But what he has done is he has held his own, but in my opinion has not quite maturated to that eighth inning. But he is a guy that I like to use in the seventh when we have a lead. Unfortunately, those times have not come up very often lately. So therefore you have a danger of a young pitcher that you’re not using and not getting the reps that he needs to get to the next level. So he’s possibly a guy that at some point if he continues to have inactivity, there will probably have to be some discussion about him. That’s kind of where we are right now.”

LOOSE LIPS: Manuel’s sense of humor again got the better of him Saturday, when the manager was quoted saying John Maine’s starting rotation turn could come on off-days.

“I don’t mean to belittle or harm anybody,” Manuel said. “That’s not my nature.”

Manuel also had made pointed remarks about Ryan Church after the outfielder had been concussed, which rubbed the ex-Met the wrong way.

“I don’t like to jab a guy that’s hurt,” Manuel said. “They know me. They know I love them.”

CENTER ATTENTION: Minaya said Carlos Beltran is “getting closer” to officially beginning a minor league rehab assignment. Still, Beltran has yet to play a full game in center field in an intrasquad game in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

WOUNDED KNEE: Chris Carter hit .192 with two homers and six RBIs in seven starts in American League ballparks at DH. He is not staring Sunday because the Mets are facing a left-hander, CC Sabathia. And Carter doesn’t figure to see much action beyond pinch-hitting going forward, with the Mets done with the AL road portion of their schedule.

“I think it’s going to be good. I’ve got a little bruise,” Carter said about the positive side of his idle time, referring to a ball he fouled off his left knee in Cleveland. “So I’ll get to heal up if I don’t play. If I do play, I’m ready. I feel sharp. So everything is good.”

Jerry Manuel says the Mets face "some tough, tough decisions" in choosing which starting pitcher to remove from the rotation to make room for injured starter John Maine.

Manuel said before Saturday's game that Hisanori Takahashi, who threw six scoreless innings against the Yankees on Friday night, is not a candidate for demotion to the bullpen. He wouldn't speculate further on who'd be banished to the bullpen, but it's hard to see the Mets moving R.A. Dickey (5-0, 2.82 ERA) or the resurgent Jonathon Niese (4-2, 3.64 ERA) . He also said he didn't think Maine was a "good fit" for the bullpen.

Mets GM Omar Minaya said the bullpen is not an "ideal spot" for Maine.

When asked how he would fit the righty in the rotation, Manuel joked he would "pitch him on off days."

"No, I don't know," Manuel added. "We'll wait and see and then we'll have to figure that out."

The Met manager said Maine would be making another minor-league rehab start to bounce back from soreness in his right shoulder. But Minaya said that nothing had been decided regarding the third start and that he, Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen would discuss the next step for Maine Saturday or Sunday.

Neither Manuel nor Minaya had spoken to Maine, who pitched 4 1/3 solid innings in his start for Triple-A Buffalo on Friday night, allowing one run (unearned) and one hit.

The team placed Maine on the disabled list on May 21 after a disastrous outing in Washington the night before in which he was pulled after throwing just five pitches.

The Mets have a 30-day window, retroactive to June 13, to decide what to do with Maine. At that point, they can activate him, designate him for assignment or place him back on the disabled list if he suffers another injury.

Hisanori Takahashi shut down the vaunted Yankees' offense again on Friday night.

Takahashi threw six shut-out innings in the Mets' 4-0 win, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out three to earn his sixth win of the season.

The Japanese lefty has thrown 12 shutout innings against the Bombers in two Subway Series starts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he’s the first rookie to throw 12 straight scoreless innings since Sidney Ponson did it in 1998. Takahashi is also just the fourth rookie pitcher since 1920 to throw at least 12 straight scoreless innings against the Bombers.

Takahashi found a way out of some tough situations against the Yankees on Friday night, falling behind 2-0 on eight of the 24 hitters he faced. He also got into trouble in the sixth, allowing back-to-back singles to Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira. Takahashi then got Alex Rodriguez to ground out to first and walked Robinson Cano before retiring Jorge Posada on a slow-roller to Wright to end the bases-loaded threat.

"You never got the feeling he was going to flinch," manager Jerry Manuel said after Angel Pagan’s two-run eighth-inning doubled helped lift the Mets to their eighth straight win, a streak that includes seven in a row on the road.

Takahashi, 35, struggled in his two starts prior to a strong outing against Baltimore last Saturday in which he allowed one run in seven innings to earn the win.

Catcher Rod Barajas said it was just a matter of the lefty hitting his spots.

“He relies on location,” Barajas said. “His goal is to locate pitches, change speeds and mix it up. He knows that and that’s what he did.”

STRONG REHAB OUTING FOR MAINE: John Maine pitched 4 1/3 solid innings in his start for Triple-A Buffalo on Friday night, allowing one run (unearned) and one hit. The right hander walked four and struck out three.

Manuel said before Friday’s game that his plan is for Maine to make a third minor league start before the team makes a decision on the right-hander’s return to the starting rotation.

Manuel hinted that he may alter his plan if Maine felt great after Friday’s start but reiterated that “our intent was for him to have three starts.”

Takahashi’s quality outing Friday night will force the Mets to make a tough call in choosing who to demote to the bullpen to make room for Maine. Takahashi was a strong candidate for demotion after he struggled in a recent two-start stretch but has since bounced back with two strong starts, including six shutout innings against the Yankees on Friday.

K-ROD ROLLS: Francisco Rodriguez earned his 16^th save, pitching the final tw0-thirds of the ninth to close out the Mets’ 4-0 win. As usual, K-Rod made things interesting. He came on with two on and one out after Raul Valdes allowed back-to-back singles to Francisco Cervelli and Curtis Granderson and walked Brett Gardner to load the bases with one out.

Rodriguez then struck out Derek Jeter and got Nick Swisher to pop out to David Wright to end it.

K-Rod warmed up late in the game but didn’t come in after the Mets scored a run in the ninth to go up, 4-0. The Mets closer then warmed up again and entered the game after Valdes got into trouble.

Rodriguez said he would have preferred to come into the game after he warmed up the first time. Manuel said that he was trying to avoid using K-Rod on Friday night because he had already used Pedro Feliciano for two innings.