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WHAT IT MEANS: The Mets rebounded from a disappointing series in Miami to beat the Brewers 3-1 at Citi Field on Monday night.

BACK AT IT: Before the game, Mets manager Terry Collins said he would stick with Frank Francisco as the closer. Francisco was tagged for two losses over the weekend and blew a save against the Marlins, giving up five earned runs over 2/3 innings in two games.

Collins said the team wanted to see if Francisco could make some changes, but it did not appear they worked too well Monday. He entered the game in the ninth to protect a 3-0 lead, coming out to a chorus of boos. Three of the first four Milwaukee batters reached, including a RBI single by Cory Hart, and Milwaukee brought the go-ahead run to the plate twice.

He struck out Brook Conrad looking for the second out and retired George Kottaras on a long fly to right-center to end the game.

BATISTA'S BRILLIANCE: Miguel Batista pitched one of the team's best games of the year as he held the Brewers scoreless over seven. He gave up just four hits, and Milwaukee did not hit many balls hard during the course of those seven innings.

The Mets had been searching for some consistency out of the spot in the rotation vacated by Mike Pelfrey, and Batista has been been able to provide that. In his two starts since joining the rotation, he's tossed 12-1/3 innings and surrendered just two runs against two playoff teams from 2011. He recorded his first win of the year.

THE DANIEL MURPHY SHOW: Daniel Murphy provided almost all of the offense on this night. His RBI single gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the fourth and he scored the team's second run on a suicide squeeze by Ronny Cedeno in the sixth. His grounder to second in the eighth ultimately led to a run, although it was more luck than anything else. Read on ...

WHEN IT'S GOING GOOD, IT'S GOING GOOD: In the eighth, David Wright was caught in a rundown trying to score on Murphy's grounder. As he tried to run to home, Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez simply dropped the ball and Wright scored to make it 3-0. Wright's hitting .398.

QUITE CHILLY: Ryan Braun was booed heavily on Monday night, his first appearance in Flushing since he tested positive for elevated testosterone this offseason. Braun went 1-for-4. Former closer Francisco Rodriguez also received a chorus of boos when he was introduced.

BACK IN ACTION: First baseman Ike Davis and third base coach Tim Teufel both missed Sunday's game with the flu, but they were back at it Monday. Davis went 0-for-4.

UP NEXT: The Mets will go for the sweep of this two-game series when Dillon Gee (2-2, 4.78 ERA) takes on former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke (3-1, 3.35) at 7:10 p.m.

Ike Davis has been scratched from Sunday's lineup with the flu. So Daniel Murphy will slide over to first base, his first start at the position since last Aug. 6. Jordany Valdespin will man second.

Tim Teufel also has the flu. Bob Geren will fill in as third base coach.

The revised lineup:

Andres Torres, cf
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, lf
David Wright, 3b
Lucas Duda, rf
Daniel Murphy, 1b
Ronny Cedeno, ss
Jordany Valdespin, 2b
Rob Johnson, c
Jon Niese, lhp

Left-hander Jamie Moyer, who faces the Mets on Sunday, turns 50 this November.

He debuted in the majors on June 16, 1986 -- before Jon Niese, Chris Schwinden, Josh Thole, Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada, Jordany Valdespin and Kirk Nieuwenhuis were born.

How long has Moyer been kicking around the majors? Mets third base coach Tim Teufel, 53, was a lifetime 2-for-20 hitter against him.

"He's like the same guy," Teufel said. "Very personable. I had a nice conversation with him yesterday. And he looks the same out there. He competes the same way. He's conditioned himself well. My hat is off to him. He's done a tremendous service to his family to pitch this long."

Moyer's fastball has averaged 78.1 mph this season. A decade ago, in 2002 with the Mariners, it averaged 82.8 mph.

"I think he was a little bit higher," Teufel said about Moyer's earlier days, "but still it's the craftiness of being a guy who can flip his curveball over any time or just miss his fastball off the plate. That's what he does."

Five days after Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell were traded from the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Juan Samuel, they returned to Shea Stadium as division rivals in 1989.

“I was excited to see them, but it obviously was a different mindset,” recalled Mets third base coach Tim Teufel, who started at second base for the Mets in Dykstra and McDowell’s reunion game. “It was all good hellos early, and then it was war after that. The reception was great for Lenny. Lenny especially got a big ovation. He’s a fan favorite here. And Roger, with the job he did with [Jesse] Orosco in the bullpen, both of them got great ovations. It was a little bit different, knowing it was so quick a turnaround. But the fans reacted well.”

Just has Dykstra stepped into the batter’s box as the leadoff hitter on June 23, 1989 for the opposition, so too will Jose Reyes do so for the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night, facing Johan Santana -- albeit with Reyes having departed as a free agent rather than via a trade.

In fact, other than Darryl Strawberry and Reyes, most reunions occurred without the returnee willingly having chosen to leave New York. (And in Reyes’ case, it’s debatable if he actually had a choice, since the Mets never made an offer.)

“I’m sure Jose’s going to get a mixed reaction,” Teufel said.

Here’s a roundup of notable returns to Flushing by ex-Mets:

• Mike Piazza, Padres, Aug. 8, 2006: Piazza got royal treatment in his first game back in Flushing, after being forced to leave as a free agent. "Just from start to finish, it was one of those things that I didn't want to end," Piazza said that day, after going 1-for-4. "I just can't explain how honored I am, because you just don't see that a lot." Said manager Willie Randolph at the time: "That's how you treat heroes."

Piazza drew wild cheers the second he emerged for batting practice. He placed a finger to his lips, as if his "shhhh" would silence the Shea faithful. Later, when the crowd rhythmically chanted "Mike Pi-azz-zza," Piazza lifted his cap while shaking his head.

When Piazza settled into the batter's box to lead off the second inning, the public-address system blared the familiar guitar riff he used during his Shea heyday. A 23-year-old David Wright turned to third base ump Chuck Meriwether and told him, "This is pretty cool."

"We both agreed," Wright said that day, adding: "All the former Mets that come back usually don't get too warm a reception."

The following day, Piazza homered twice, both off Pedro Martinez.

• Al Leiter, Marlins, April 16, 2005: Leiter had denied reports that he badmouthed New York while successfully courting Carlos Delgado to join him with the Marlins. He also differed with Omar Minaya and the new Mets regime about whose fault it was that he did not return. Then the southpaw, who was roughly treated by the crowd in his return, allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, but got a no-decision in the Mets’ 4-3 win while starting opposite Martinez.

"I don't know what they were booing at,” Leiter said that day. “One guy in the bullpen said, 'Al, we love you and I think you're great, but I'm still going to boo you.' You have fans that root for the marks and logos of their teams. You root for the fabric and I understand that. That's probably what it is."

Paul Lo Duca, Leiter’s batterymate with the Marlins that day, told Newsday after the game: "When I went back to L.A., it was emotional. I asked him yesterday. He didn't want to pitch. For him to do what he did, I don't think people realize how hard it is. You have that anxiety and you want to do too much. You want to hit a ball eight miles. You want to throw a ball 100 miles an hour, because there's part of you that sort of wants to shove it up you-know-what."

• John Franco, Astros, April 11, 2005: Yes, the Mets displayed a tribute video on the Shea scoreboard before the start of the second inning. And, yes, Franco was warmly cheered by the Flushing crowd pregame, after being forced to leave as a free agent the previous offseason.

Franco actually surrendered a key two-run single to Cliff Floyd that accounted for the final runs in the Mets’ 8-4 win. He was booed upon entering as a reliever. “The crowd treated me nice," Franco said after that game. "[The boos] don't bother me. That's just part of it. I played 15 years here and probably heard a lot of that. There are people who like you and people who don't like you."

• Darryl Strawberry, Dodgers, May 7, 1991: Unlike many of the other departures via trade or free agency, Strawberry left mostly of his own volition, to sign a five-year, $20.25 million deal with L.A. And he often has said of late he regretted the decision.

Strawberry, mired in a 1-for-23 slump and prolonged long ball drought, belted a two-run homer against Frank Viola in his return. But Straw also grounded out to end the game while facing Franco with the potential tying run on third base. The Mets won, 6-5.

Fans lustily jeered and chanted “Dary-llll, Dary-lll.” According to the Associated Press report, extra security was positioned in right field, but the only issue was some strawberrys being chucked at the slugger in the on-deck circle. Said Franco, according to the Times: "Everybody says they hate him. But then why do they come out to the ballpark? It's because they admire him. Hey, they got their money's worth."

• Gary Carter, Giants, May 8, 1990: The aging Carter hit .183 in 50 games with the Mets in 1989, so the organization decided to go with Barry Lyons and Mackey Sasser behind the plate the following season. The Mets also parted with Keith Hernandez that same offseason. That prompted Carter to sign with the Giants to platoon with Terry Kennedy. San Francisco manager Roger Craig sent Carter out to exchange lineup cards with Davey Johnson, and Kid was given a prolonged standing ovation by the Shea faithful. He started the game and went 1-for-2 with a single and walk in seven innings.

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Don’t look now, but the Mets are a win Tuesday away from matching the best start in franchise history -- established by the 1985 edition, which opened 5-0.

“Everybody is excited about the start,” Terry Collins said after the Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 4-3, Monday night at Citi Field on Daniel Murphy’s walk-off RBI single. “We talked about it in the first meeting we had in spring training -- the importance of getting out of the gate. No. 1, we know it’s a long year. We know it’s four games. But I think we want to show our fans, what we say, maybe there’s some truth to it. And that is that we’re a better team than people are giving us credit for.”

Murphy had two key plays in the final frame -- the hitting heroics with the single off Henry Rodriguez and a fielding play that preceded it.

In the top half while manning second base, Murphy ranged to his right and smothered Ryan Zimmerman’s grounder up the middle. He then got the ball to Ruben Tejada covering the bag for a forceout of Ian Desmond that ended Jon Rauch’s second scoreless inning.

“A great play to knock that ball down,” Collins said. “If that balls gets through, they’re first and third. Holes open up in the infield. Dan Murphy, what can I say? Every minute of every game he’s all out.”

Murphy came to bat in the ninth with Mike Baxter at third base, Tejada at second and none out.

Baxter, pinch-hitting, had walked to open the bottom of the ninth. Tejada then produced a sacrifice bunt with two strikes, which Rodriguez fired past first base. On the play, Baxter nearly tried to score. But third base coach Tim Teufel managed to hold Baxter up halfway down the line. Baxter slid awkwardly while stopping. Murphy then followed with the game-winning single.

“The last thing I wanted to do was have the first out at home,” Teufel said. “So when I saw him reach down for the ball, that’s when I decided to put the brakes on for him.”

Said Baxter: “A skid out. I took some grass, but it worked out well. Thankfully I saw the stop sign and pulled up. It all worked. I was trying to score. Once I saw the ball get away I figured we might have a chance to score. And then he put the brakes on. I did my best to stop, but I lost the edge. I just saw the replay. It’s not too nice.”

As for bunting with two strikes on a challenging slider from Rodriguez, Tejada said: “It’s a tough at-bat, but I have to do my work in that situation. A runner at first, nobody out, I have to put the ball in play. It’s not easy.”

• As for Mike Pelfrey’s performance in allowing three runs in 5 2/3 innings, Collins said: “I said, ‘Look, you’ve got to be positive. You got groundballs.’ It’s there. Stay with it. … I thought Mike battled. I thought he really did. I thought he hung in there. That’s what he does. He did it last year. I can see him doing it this year. That’s why he gives you 200 innings.”

Said Pelfrey: “I think we introduced the curveball maybe in the fourth or fifth inning. That kind of helped. Definitely, early, I missed a lot of pitches over the middle of the plate. You can’t do that. I think I need to be down a little bit more and, like I said, keep it out of the middle and I think I’ll be fine. But stuff-wise, I thought it was good. If I could take that out there every night, it’s going to be a good year.”

The Mets face the Yankees at 2:10 p.m. today in Port St. Lucie -- the first spring-training meeting between the clubs since March 30, 1996, at Tampa. After the game, the Mets break camp and bus across the state. They will play one final Grapefruit League game, at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday against the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese work today, opposite Ivan Nova.

Tuesday's news reports:

• Before departing to get an MRI on Monday, Frank Francisco acknowledged his ailing left knee was drained Sunday. Terry Collins expressed concern with the health of his closer and said he had not considered whom he otherwise might use in that role. Read more in the Star-Ledger, Newsday, Record, Daily News, Post and Times.

• Bobby Parnell required only 39 pitches to toss three scoreless innings against the Braves at Disney, upping his scoreless streak to 12 1/3 innings in Grapefruit League play. Parnell was being stretched out for multiple-inning usage during the regular season. Ruben Tejada added a three-run homer against Brandon Beachy and the Mets beat Atlanta, 8-2, Monday.

• Niese acknowledged his representatives were engaged in substantive talks with the Mets about a long-term extension -- expected to be five years with two team options. That would lock up Niese for one to three seasons that he would be eligible for free agency, depending upon whether the Mets exercise those options. ESPN Stats & Information's Mark Simon shows the statistics underlying why the Mets want to make a five-year commitment (plus the team options) to the southpaw.

• In his debut column in the Post, columnist Ken Davidoff agrees locking up Niese may be wise. Writes Davidoff:

You can’t worry too much about Niese’s career ERA of 4.39. No well-run team does. The ERA measurement relies too heavily on defense and luck. The statistic FIP -- Fielding Independent Pitching, using only walks, strikeouts and home runs -- is considered a better predictor of a pitcher’s future than ERA. Niese’s career FIP, which is calculated to look like an ERA, is 3.77.

You can worry, however, about the lack of innings pitched. The player most often compared to Niese these past couple of days has been Derek Holland, whom the Rangers gave a five-year, $28-million extension last month. Holland has two years and 120 days of big-league service to Niese’s two years and 107 days. But Holland threw 198 innings in the 2011 regular season and another 24 in the postseason, twirling an 8 1/3-inning, two-hit, no-run masterpiece to defeat the Cardinals in World Series Game 4. Niese? He didn’t pitch after Aug. 23 last year, going down with a rib-cage injury and finishing with 157 1/3 innings. And in 2010, when he set the career ceiling of 173 2/3 innings, he wore down at season’s end, putting up a 4.89 FIP in 25 1/3 September innings.

• Center fielder Andres Torres predicted he would make his first Grapefruit League appearance since March 20 in today's game, signaling his strained left calf will not force him to the disabled list to open the season. Read more in the Star-Ledger, Post and Daily News.

• Mets executive VP Dave Howard tells Mike Puma in the Post that "several thousand" tickets remain available for Thursday's opener at Citi Field.

• David Lennon in Newsday did a Q&A with Ike Davis. Included is this exchange:

You pitched some at Arizona State and finished your college career with a 7-5 record and four saves. Do you ever miss pitching?

Davis : "I was a pitcher all my life. I miss it. It's fun. It's part of the game that I enjoyed doing and I was decent at it. But I have so many other things to worry about. Sometimes later in the game ... I'm like, 'Man, this is when I used to come in,' and [think] how much fun that used to be. But then I remember I've got to worry about catching the ball at first base. I threw a fastball, slider. I was working on a split. I threw a changeup a couple times in my life. It was very good and then it was awful. I never was consistent with it so I scrapped it."

• David Waldstein in the Times notes the Yankees, in their first visit to Port St. Lucie since 1995, won't bring many of their stars. No Derek Jeter. No Alex Rodriguez. No Mariano Rivera. Waldstein then traces the fascinating history of intra-city games among New York teams, including October battles more than a century ago between the Yankees and New York Giants when neither team was involved in the World Series. Waldstein reports that the dormant Mets-Yankees spring-training matchups were rekindled because the Yankees had two open dates this week and their traveling secretary Ben Tuliebitz called the Mets, who accepted. Writes Waldstein about George Steinbrenner's legendary intensity when facing the Mets, even in spring training:

For Steinbrenner, beating the Mets was always a priority. “The Boss wanted to win all 162 games and 30 in spring training,” said the former Yankees closer Rich Gossage. “As players, we couldn’t care less, but it was like it’s the seventh game of the World Series,” Gossage said of spring training matchups with the Mets. “It was like he would rather win that game than win a World Series.” ... According to Gossage, Steinbrenner would march through the clubhouse before the games to let everyone know that he wanted to beat the Mets. Who cared if the Mets weren’t any good? The Yankees’ manager -- maybe Billy Martin in one of his countless stints -- would hear about it, too. “If you didn’t play well in those games he might send you to Triple-A,” said Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, an assistant in those days. “It was kind of crazy. He wanted to win those games badly; everyone knew it.”

Brian Costa in the Journal also addresses the rekindled spring-training matchup and Steinbrenner's passion to win those games. "The starters were out after five innings, and the subs went in," Tim Teufel, a former second baseman on the Mets and now their third base coach, told Costa. "It wasn't like this was a true read on the two teams. It was a spring training-managed game."

• Mike Kerwick in the Record has a nuts and bolts Mets season preview.

TRIVIA: Which pitcher led Triple-A Buffalo in strikeouts last season?

Monday's answer: Mike Hampton started for the Mets on Opening Day in 2000, against the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome, launching a season in which the Mets reached the World Series.

Dillon Gee tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings and the Mets blanked the Washington Nationals, 2-0, on Tuesday night to snap a nine-game winless streak in Grapefruit League play.

Lucas Duda delivered an opposite-field solo homer for the lone run surrendered by Stephen Strasburg in five innings, during which the Nats’ ace limited the Mets to two hits and a walk.

Jason Bay walked with two out in the sixth against right-hander Ryan Mattheus, stole second and scored on a single by Ike Davis to cap the scoring.

The Mets used their full lineup with the exception of Justin Turner subbing for David Wright, who is still working back from an abdominal muscle tear.

• Ruben Tejada returned to exhibition play for the first time in nine days after pronouncing his groin strain healed. Tejada doubled down the third-base line for the other hit against Strasburg and also turned a pair of double plays in the middle infield with Daniel Murphy -- one 4-6-3, and one 6-4-3. Tejada departed after five innings for Ronny Cedeno.

Tejada’s recovery from the groin injury was tested when he ranged to his right, fielded a deep grounder and made a jump-stop throw that narrowly failed to retire Ian Desmond at first base to open the fourth inning.

“That’s a really good test,” Tejada said.

Tejada and Murphy had logged only six innings in the Grapefruit League together before Tuesday’s game, but infield coach Tim Teufel said the tandem actually had worked together a lot on back fields, even while Tejada was being held out of games.

“They’ve had a lot of reps,” Teufel said. “They’ve gotten to know where they like the ball, where they want it thrown to.”

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Mike Pelfrey takes the mound as the Mets make a two-plus-hour drive to Kissimmee to take on the Houston Astros. The Mets then will have Monday off, with the complex closed until a Tuesday night game. Monday will not be quiet, however. Inside U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff's courtroom in lower Manhattan, jury selection and opening statements are expected to occur Monday in the $386 million lawsuit against Fred Wilpon and family regarding Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The trial is scheduled to last 10 additional days.

Sunday's news reports:

• Jon Niese tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings despite allowing all six leadoff batters he faced to reach. Still, the Mets lost to a split-squad Atlanta Braves team, 3-2, on Saturday at Digital Domain Park. Daniel Murphy had a two-run single for the Mets, but Chuck James and Ramon Ramirez combined to allow three eighth-inning runs. The Mets are 0-7-1 in their past eight games and have the worst record either in the Grapefruit or Cactus League. Read more in Newsday and the Daily News.

• Zack Wheeler allowed an unearned run while tossing three innings for the Double-A squad in the first day of minor league exhibition games. Read the full Buffalo and Binghamton recaps here. Watch video of Wheeler facing Cardinals farmhand Raniel Rosario here. Read more on Wheeler's outing in the Daily News, Star-Ledger and Newsday.

• The Mets signed infielder Oswaldo Navarro to a minor league contract.

• Anthony Destefano in Newsday previews the Madoff-related civil trial that opens Monday. Writes Destefano:

[Trustee Irving] Picard's case, Rakoff has said a number of times, is far from rock solid. The trustee has to prove that the Wilpon defendants were willfully blind and ignored warnings about Madoff. Noted white-collar defense attorney and author Stanley Arkin describes the concept of willful blindness this way: "You turn your head away from facts that cry out for inquiry and you take no steps to make inquiry." Rakoff said it will be up to the Wilpons and partners to demonstrate that they weren't willfully blind to the fraud.

Barry Meier in the Times suggests Mets fans may want the Wilpons to lose the entire $386 million at stake. Of that amount, Rakoff already has declared the trustee is entitled to the profits made in the two years before Madoff's arrest -- as much as $83 million. Writes Meier:

The proceeding took place in the people’s food court (technically, the bar and snack stands along the right-field line) at Digital Domain Park before Friday’s game, in which a Mets squad was demolished by the Detroit Tigers, 9-0. The verdict of fans polled, while not unanimous, was clear. Put simply, they would like to see Wilpon and Katz have their financial clocks cleaned so the only option will be selling the team. “That is the biggest hope that I have for the Mets this year,” said Judy Sromovsky, a longtime fan who lives in Bridgewater, N. J.

The Daily News also outlines what's at stake in the case.

• Jeff Bradley in the Star-Ledger has a Q&A with Justin Turner. Turner credits former Cincinnati Reds GM Wayne Krivsky, also a former special assistant with the Mets, for his opportunities at the major league level. "He was the GM of the Reds and drafted me in 2006," Turner told Bradley. "He got let go by the Reds and went to the Orioles and traded for me there. And then he came over to the Mets and picked me up when the Orioles put me on waivers. I owe a lot to him. He believed in me. He’s the reason I got this chance." Krivsky now has landed with the Minnesota Twins, where his career first ascended.

• Bench coach Bob Geren, a former major league catcher, tells the Star-Ledger Josh Thole is going to be prepared for games. Writes Bradley:

“He’s going to come to the field at a certain time at the start of the series to do his preparation from the video,” Geren begins. “Then, at a certain time, he’s going to meet with the pitching coach to go over it. He’s going to be heavily involved in the pitchers’ meeting, passing on what he’s observed. He’ll talk to the pitchers in between innings about how that inning went and who’s coming up next. That’s just the beginning.” Geren says when other players are playing cards on team flights, he expects to see Thole with his iPad, watching video of the next opponent. Not only does Geren want to see Thole putting in extra time, he wants the pitchers to see it.

• Mike Kerwick in the Record looks at the competitors to take the lefty specialist role in the bullpen while Tim Byrdak takes approximately another five weeks to recover from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Garrett Olson likely is the frontrunner. The Mets have pulled Josh Edgin into major league camp, even though he has not pitched above Class A. James appears the primary consideration beyond Olson. Daniel Herrera is the fourth competitor. Writes Kerwick:

On road trips, the left-handed reliever likes to sneak away, stealing a moment for himself in the cheap seats. Accompanied by his Nikon D700, he sets up shop high above home plate. Garrett Olson chooses a lens. He snaps a photo. Then he quietly returns to the clubhouse. These are his butterflies, the camera his net. Olson has attempted to capture a portrait of every major league stadium. During his six seasons in the majors, he has compiled a modest collection. "Not all 30," Olson said before the Mets' 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday at Digital Domain Park. "Maybe half. Just a guess." There is one important stadium missing – the leopard absent from his safari. "This one," he said. "Citi Field. Certainly this and a lot of National League teams."

Mike Puma in the Post quotes pitching coach Dan Warthen regarding Edgin as saying: "I’m not going to talk about major leagues right now for him. But I wouldn’t be surprised if some time this year we saw him.”

• The Post quotes a Mets official as saying it's "50-50" whether the Mets sign left-hander C.J. Nitkowski. Newsday reported last week a deal was likely and seemed imminent.

• Columnist Joel Sherman in the Post wonders whether Johan Santana or Andy Pettitte will contribute more this season. Writes Sherman:

Both lefties missed all of last season, albeit for different reasons. Santana was recovering from shoulder surgery while Pettitte took what now amounts to a one-year sabbatical. Santana is close to a necessity for the 2012 rotation-thin Mets. Pettitte appears a luxury for the rotation-deep Yankees. Santana is seven years younger than Pettitte, but the shoulder ailment he is trying to return from does not come with a high success rate, and certainly not a speedy one.

• Sherman also says there really are only four positives for the Mets -- Santana, the middle of the order, the bullpen and their pitching prospects.

• Infield coach Tim Teufel tells columnist Kevin Kernan in the Post that he is using Chase Utley as an example to Murphy of how to turn double plays, because Utley also has a larger frame. Teufel also is repositioning his middle infielders. “The goal for us is to become better at double-play turns, and that means being more aggressive on groundballs, getting the transfer a little bit quicker,’’ Teufel told Kernan. “So I’m moving the guys in a step and one step closer to the bag. We’re going to give up a little bit in the hole, but it’s more important that we are on time and under control, a little less lateral and back movements and a little more angle direct to the ball movements as an infield.’’

TRIVIA: Eight players started in right field for the Mets last season. Can you name them?

Saturday's answer: Jose Valentin started for the Mets at second base on Opening Day in 2007. Luis Castillo had the Game 1 nod at the position the next three seasons, followed by shortlived Rule 5 pick Brad Emaus in 2011.

Mets third base coach Tim Teufel on Friday discusses the passing of former teammate Gary Carter.

Five days before Mets pitchers and catchers officially report on Monday, the Mets' spring-training complex already is abuzz with activity. Among the most prominent players already making appearances in Port St. Lucie: Johan Santana, David Wright, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, Josh Thole, Mike Nickeas, Dillon Gee and Bobby Parnell.

Wednesday's news reports:

• Fred Wilpon is on the ownership committee that is vetting prospective Los Angeles Dodgers owners, Ron Blum of the Associated Press reports. The committee chairman is Bill Bartholomay, former chairman of the Atlanta Braves. Other committee members include Baltimore Orioles chairman Peter Angelos, St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt, Seattle Mariners chairman emeritus John Ellis, Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch and Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner.

The Wilpon family has no intention of willingly selling the Mets, it has appeared, but obviously this affords them insights on deep-pocketed individuals should they ever need to relinquish the team. No more bailouts are expected from MLB if the Wilpons cannot meet their debt obligations, such as any potential inability to repay or rework their $40 million bridge loan with Bank of America.

Writes Blum:

Bartholomay said the committee will investigate "very deep" into not just the lead individuals of the groups, but also the proposed limited partners and corporations that plan to invest. The process was agreed to by Major League Baseball and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in a deal filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. MLB agreed to process up to 10 bidders. Normally, Bartholomay's committee processes only the finalist to purchase a franchise. "Let's face it, when you have the United States government involved, it takes a different profile," he said.

Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal assesses the Wilpons' long-term viability.

• GM Sandy Alderson -- of Twitter fame (@MetsGM) -- appeared on WFAN on Tuesday afternoon (listen here).

Alderson noted the Mets had no high-profile offseason acquisitions except for in the bullpen, which added Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, but he maintained the team has the potential to be better than 2011, when the Mets went 77-85. He acknowledged the payroll decline is more precipitous than he expected, but also spun the $52 million freefall as being not as catastrophic when you consider Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo's contracts were on the books as dead weight last year since they were released in spring training. "I didn't come here to operate the Oakland A's, and I don't expect to have to do that on a long-term basis," Alderson said. He quickly added: "And am not doing that currently."

According to Alderson, Santana is scheduled to return to the mound Friday. Santana took a winter hiatus from mound work to have a semi-typical type of offseason and allow his body to recuperate after rehabbing a year from Sept. 14, 2010 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. "It's going to be hard for us to fully predict what's going to happen once he gets on the mound, throws his bullpen, throws his first two or three innings in a game," the GM said. "But as we stand here today, we expect him to be ready to go [for the season]."

Of course, Santana already pitched in minor league games last year. The biggest question is whether he can sustain a pitching workload that would require him to get on the mound in a game every fifth or sixth day. And that won't be known until Grapefruit League games, or even into the regular season.

Meanwhile, Alderson also acknowledged in his radio interview that there is very little actual competition for starting position-player roles. Pressed about whether even Justin Turner might give Murphy a battle at second base, Alderson stood by his original comment that things are straightforward. According to Terry Collins, the projected lineup likely is: Andres Torres cf, Murphy 2b, Wright 3b, Davis 1b, Jason Bay lf, Duda rf, Thole c, Ruben Tejada ss.

Alderson does not dismiss Murphy or Tejada getting the leadoff nod instead, if only because the Mets might as well try to maximize on-base percentage if they don't have a speedster atop the order. Torres had a .343 OBP in 2010 vs. .312 in 2011. "You can't be the leadoff guy with a .310 on-base percentage," Alderson said. Still, the GM acknowledged Murphy is "not the first choice" to bat No. 1.

As for Turner, Alderson correctly noted that even if he's not a true second-base challenger to Murphy for Opeing Day, last year Turner ultimately emerged as a regular at second base. That came after a progression of people planned for the position, including Rule 5 pick Brad Emaus, had issues that disqualified them.

Regardless, Alderson projected Torres as a defensive upgrade over Angel Pagan, but noted there's a big discrepancy in Torres' offensive production between 2010 and 2011.

"Subject to health in Johan's case," Alderson said, the rotation is similarly pretty much set with Santana, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Gee. Alderson noted the depth behind those five is thin, because the prospect quartet of Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia (who had May 2011 Tommy John surgery) is not ready for early season contributions. (Alderson called those four critical for 2013 and 2014.) The GM cited Chris Schwinden and Miguel Batista as the rotation safety net. The Mets also claimed Jeremy Hefner off waivers and signed Garrett Olson during the offseason.

Alderson added that he expects a lot of back-end-of-the-rotation-type pitchers to become available late in spring training. That's because the new collective-bargaining agreement requires teams to pay major league-experienced players who came to camp as free agents on minor league contracts a $100,000 lump sum if they continue on with that organization into the season but don't make the Opening Day roster. Those players also have the right to opt out June 1. To avoid the lump-sum payment, the player must be released five days before Opening Day. Alderson predicted lefty-hitting backup outfielders will become available before Opening Day for the same reason and the Mets won't necessarily have to rely on Mike Baxter or Adam Loewen for that role. The Mets watched Kosuke Fukudome sign with the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Overall, Alderson acknowledged 22 to 23 roster spots are pretty much set, barring injury. That lefty-hitting outfield bench spot as well as the final spot in the bullpen behind Francisco, Rauch, Tim Byrdak, ex-Giant Ramon Ramirez, Manny Acosta and Parnell would be the obvious competitive roles. Alderson also was not ready to anoint Nickeas as the backup catcher, even though that is the likely direction.

Read more coverage of Alderson's radio interview in articles from Peter Botte in the Daily News as well as in the Times.

• Former major league catcher Bob Geren, now the Mets' bench coach, will work with Thole. Meanwhile, Murphy is getting his tutorial at second base from new third base coach Tim Teufel, which included work Tuesday in Port St. Lucie, according to Andrew Keh in the Times. (You may recall Keith Hernandez gave Murphy a tutorial at first base under similar circumstances a couple of years ago when Murphy was learning first base.) One Teufel tip is for Murphy to start plays a couple of feet closer to second base, Keh writes, which should provide more time to make the play and then get out of the way around the bag. Murphy's last two seasons have ended with MCL injuries suffered on opponents' slides into second base. "Dan is a good offensive player who's got some things to work on defensively, and that's kind of where I was, too," Teufel told Keh while reflecting on his own career. "I wasn't the best double play-turner, but I worked on it, and I became efficient, and that's what we want out of Dan."

Alderson, in his radio interview, said Murphy will wear a brace on the right knee, which he injured in 2010, but not on the left knee he injured last season. Read more on Murphy and Teufel in Newsday.

• Josh Lewin officially has been named Howie Rose's radio partner for the 2012 season. Lewin replaces Wayne Hagin, whose contract was not renewed. Lewin, 43, most recently called Texas Rangers games on TV from 2002-2010. He can be found on Twitter at @joshlewinstuff. Lewin tweeted that he will continue to call San Diego Chargers games next NFL season. Lewin grew up a Mets fan in Rochester, according to Ken Belson in the Times. Read more in Newsday.

• Santana joked Tuesday to Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger that Friday's upcoming session off a mound, his first of 2012, should be on pay-per-view. Collins told Dan Martin in the Post that the upcoming session will only be at 75 to 80 percent.

• The Mets plan to have five bobblehead days this season -- tied to this being the 50th anniversary of the team's inaugural season in 1962. The ex-Mets included: Tom Seaver on April 22 vs. San Francisco, Rusty Staub on May 26 vs. San Diego, Hernandez on June 17 vs. Cincinnati, Edgardo Alfonzo on July 21 vs. Los Angeles and Mike Piazza on Aug. 25 vs. Houston.

David Lennon of Newsday tweeted that the Mets will wait to retire Piazza's No. 31 until he is selected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, by the way. Lennon also predicted Piazza will get in on the first ballot, and that the plaque will include a Mets cap. (I'm not sure Piazza will be voted in Year 1 -- he needs 75 percent of ballots submitted -- but I agree the Hall very likely will put him in as a Met.)

• Duda told the Post he got a lot out of a conversation with the fellow Southern Cal alum Seaver late last season. "He told me to not worry about doing too much and to take a deep breath, basically," Duda told the newspaper. Said hitting coach Dave Hudgens about Duda: "He has to try and tone down his movement at the plate. He gets so geared up and tries to do too much. But he reminds me of [Jason] Giambi a little bit. He uses the whole field and has good discipline that will get better."

• Davis maintains his left ankle, which he injured May 10 in Denver, is OK. "I feel normal," he told the Star-Ledger. "If it was still bothering me, I'd be nervous. But I'm good to go. If I play horrible, it’s not my ankle's fault. It's just because I'm not very good." Collins told McCullough he will give Davis extra at-bats, potentially as a DH, in Grapefruit League games because he has been away from seeing live pitching for so long.

TRIVIA: Since the Mets' inception in 1962, which Canadian-born player has appeared in the most major league games with the team? (Give it a shot answering in the comments section. Answer coming tomorrow.)

Tim Teufel, who had been in his first season manages Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan winter league, has been replaced as manager, the team announced. Carlos Lezcano will take over the club on an interim basis.

Leones has a 12-16 record, in sixth place of eight teams.

Teufel, a longtime Mets minor league manager, will take over the third-base coaching duties for the Mets in 2012.

Mets hitting coach Dave Hudgens had managed Caracas the previous two seasons.

Tim Teufel, who is managing Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan winter league, became irate with the umpires' handling of interference by a ball boy down the right-field line in a game this week. His subsequent tirade included mock ejecting the umpires. Teufel, who managed Triple-A Buffalo last season, is ascending to Mets third base coach in 2012.

Over the next three weeks, Mark Simon will reminisce here about the 1986 postseason. The 1986 Mets won the World Series in an exhilarating fashion. Here's a capsule look at Game 1 of the 1986 World Series, played on this date, 25 years ago.

Game 1, Shea Stadium: Red Sox 1, Mets 0
After the Red Sox and Mets had two days off following draining wins in their respective League Championship Series, the two teams convened at Shea Stadium for the Fall Classic, in a great game with an unfortunate ending.

Those who like pitcher’s duels would have loved this contest, a matchup of Red Sox lefty Bruce Hurst and Mets right-hander Ron Darling.

Hurst gave the Mets the same kind of troubles that Astros lefty Bob Knepper did in the early part of Game 3 and Game 6 of the NLCS. Though Hurst walked four and allowed four hits, he was able to sidestep trouble when he needed to do so.

Darling, who was very shaky and fortunate to get a no-decision in Game 3 of the NLCS, pitched very well in his World Series debut. He would allow just one run and three hits, but would be hurt by his own doing.

With the score tied in the top of the seventh, Darling walked Jim Rice, and allowed him to advance to second base on a wild pitch. Darling got Dwight Evans to ground out, but having a runner in scoring position proved painful when Rich Gedman’s grounder to the right side went through the legs of Tim Teufel. Rice scored for the only run the Red Sox would need.

The Mets got the leadoff man on base in the seventh inning against Hurst and in the ninth inning against Red Sox closer Calvin Schiraldi, but failed to score both times. The Red Sox won 1-0 and led in the series by that same margin.

Turning Point
In the third inning, the Mets had two on and one out for Keith Hernandez. But Hernandez flied out and Gary Carter grounded out to end that scoring threat. They’d put two on with nobody out in the home sixth, but their rally was killed by a Darryl Strawberry strikeout and a Ray Knight double play grounder.

The Mets would finish the game 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

The Red Sox would also make a couple of key defensive plays. Third baseman Wade Boggs made a diving stop to thwart one late rally and first baseman Dave Stapleton, inserted as a late-game replacement for Bill Buckner, got a force play on Knight's bunt attempt in the ninth inning to stymie another Mets comeback bid.

What They Wrote
“Game 1 of a World Series is like the first clash of two great heavyweights, the first spotting of an iceberg by a ship captain, the first across-the-room sighting of a woman by a man.

Who knows what majesty or tragedy might ensue?

The Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets met Saturday night at Shea Stadium for the first time in a game that counted, and the mixture was intoxicating to the point of causing hallucinations.
-- Kevin Modesti, Los Angeles Daily News

"It was a Little League error. No, worse than that.It was the sort of play your Uncle Ralph makes in the softball game at the family reunion after he`s had a few too many beers. The groundball rolls out to him at second base, and Uncle Ralph draws a crafty bead on it, slyly puts down his glove and . . ."
--Mark Purdy, Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Quote of the Day
“The ball just scooted on me. I didn't get my glove down. It took a big hop just before a small one and I didn't have the glove down low enough. Do I feel terrible? Yes."
-- Tim Teufel

"It reminds me of the Yankee infield," he said. "The dirt gets loose quick and causes bad hops. It doesn't look level.”
-- Red Sox second baseman Marty Barrett on Shea Stadium’s infield

Further Reading
The Society for Baseball Research is in the midst of its Bioproject, attemping to provide a biography for every major league player. Here's a very thorough look at the life and baseball career of Teufel.

Stats To Remember
1-- The 1986 Mets are the only team in postseason history to lose multiple series openers by a 1-0 score. They also lost Game 1 of the NLCS, 1-0.

2-- This was the Red Sox first 1-0 win since May 3, 1984 against Jack Morris and the Detroit Tigers. The winning pitcher that day? The Mets Game 3 starter, Bob Ojeda.

3-- This was the first postseason game in which the losing team lost 1-0 on an unearned run in 65 years. The last prior to this was Game 8 of the 1921 World Series (a best-of-9) in which the Giants defeated the Yankees, 1-0.

The Mets are the only team with two postseason 1-0 losses on unearned runs. The other such defeat came against the Braves in Game 3 of the 1999 NLCS.

And talk about hard-luck losers: Darling allowed one run and three hits in seven innings. Starting pitchers who allow one run or fewer, and three hits or fewer in seven-or-more innings are 129-11 all-time in the postseason.

Ruben Tejada had four RBIs and Lucas Duda added insurance by snapping closer Craig Kimbrel's streak without allowing a homer at 48 2/3 innings with a ninth-inning solo shot as the Mets beat the Braves, 7-5, Sunday afternoon at Turner Field. The teams split the season series at nine games apiece.

Atlanta's wild-card lead was trimmed to 3½ games when coupled with St. Louis' evening win at Philadelphia.

“We’re not happy where we’re sitting with our record and everything else right now, but without the play of our young players, it’d be a lot worse, believe me,” Terry Collins said. “Those guys have played absolutely outstanding baseball all summer long, and I salute them.”

After a team golf outing Monday during an off-day, the Mets open their final road series of the season with a three-game set against the Cardinals ... with a further opportunity to impact the wild-card race.

Monday's news reports:

• Tim Byrdak agreed to a one-year contract extension, through 2012. The Mets now have left-handed relievers Daniel Herrera and Byrdak under control for next season. Read more in the Star-Ledger and Record.

• The Mets' annual rookie initiation took place leaving Turner Field, with players such as Dillon Gee, Pedro Beato, Ruben Tejada and Duda required to wear blue cheerleader outfits with a Mets logo. View photos here.

• Johan Santana tossed a three-inning simulated game in his Fort Myers, Fla., hometown. Afterward, Santana tweeted: "I had a good day today!!! Pitched 3 innings and feeling good!!!"

• Triple-A manager Tim Teufel, who will manage Caracas in winter ball in Venezuela, completed a stint as a coach with the Mets on Sunday. Double-A manager Wally Backman is now due to join the club as a coach.

• Angel Pagan has a quadriceps issue that Collins said has impeded the center fielder's ability to patrol the outfield for the past couple of weeks. Pagan did not play Sunday, but Collins indicated he would return to the lineup for the Cardinals series. Jose Reyes similarly was given Sunday off, but ended up pinch-hitting and hitting into a fielder's choice. Collins said Reyes would start the each of the team's remaining nine games. Reyes' average dipped to .331, while Milwaukee's Ryan Braun went 3-for-4 to lift his National League-leading average to .336. Read more on Pagan and Reyes sitting in Newsday.

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

BIRTHDAYS: Former reliever Randy Myers turns 49. ... Hall of Famer Duke Snider, who played 129 games for the Mets in 1963 after a storied career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, was born on this date in 1926. Snider passed away earlier this year.