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Looks like Niese will start for Mets Tuesday

BY DAVID LENNON | david.lennon@newsday.com

August 30, 2008

MIAMI - As the Mets continued to discuss their options to fill the rotation hole for Tuesday in Milwaukee, Jon Niese made his scheduled start Friday for Triple-A New Orleans.

It didn't last for very long. Niese was pulled after 2 2/3 innings and 65 pitches, a strong indication he will make his major-league debut against the Brewers. The 21-year-old lefthander is 5-1 with a 3.52 ERA for the Zephyrs.

The Mets did have other options, but Brian Stokes has become too much of a necessity in the bullpen and Nelson Figueroa already flamed out as a starter earlier this season. Figueroa, who was called up Wednesday, did beat the Brewers on April 11 at Shea. He allowed two hits and two runs in six innings, striking out six.

With rosters set to expand Monday, manager Jerry Manuel suggested that an ideal number of call-ups would be 10 or fewer, and it looks as if Fernando Martinez won't be among them.

Proving ground for Pelfrey?

The Mets initially looked to skip Mike Pelfrey for this weekend series against the Marlins. The primary reason was to give him an extra turn of rest because of his career-high number of innings, but they also didn't mind having him miss the Marlins. Pelfrey is 1-4 with a 7.20 ERA in six career starts against Florida.

With John Maine on the DL, however, Pelfrey was kept on turn and will start Saturday. He is coming off two complete-game victories, so maybe Pelfrey's luck is about to change.

"I just think that when Mike Pelfrey is pitching the way he has pitched, he can beat anybody," Manuel said. "From where we are now, we can ill afford to be mixing and matching. We have to go with our best foot forward. And he's one of the best we got right now."

Obama a hit

While Manuel gave Barack Obama's nomination speech a thumbs-up, the Mets' manager, who is a huge admirer of Dr. Martin Luther King, did say he's not on par with the legendary civil rights leader.

"I liked the speech," Manuel said. "It did remind me of 45 years ago. That was big - not quite Martin. He's good, but he ain't Martin ... Let's not get confused here. Martin is a whole different level."