Beltran hopes to return soon; R.A. breezes

The sight of Carlos Beltran limping down the dugout steps after the second inning Sunday night is the lasting image from what could have been a bright spot of a game for the Mets.

Beltran fouled a ball off his right calf, near the knee that has caused him so many problems the last two seasons. X-rays were negative and he's officially day-to-day, but that is a meaningless designation on a team for which no injury is ever minor.

"He was dizzy, his stomach was upset -- that means you're hurt," Terry Collins said of Beltran after the Mets' 6-4 win over the Braves. "I walked out and he said, 'I don't think I can go.' He's never said that to me once this year."

The latest injury to a key Met overshadowed R.A. Dickey's second straight superb outing, one that ended with a win after eight innings of four-hit pitching.

Manny Acosta and Francisco Rodriguez nearly combined to toss away a five-run lead in the ninth, with Rodriguez giving up a rocketed three-run homer to Diory Hernandez, but the Mets escaped, winning two of three from the Braves.

Dickey (3-6) followed up his 10-strikeout gem against the Pirates on Tuesday by limiting the Braves to two singles, a double and Brian McCann's solo homer in the seventh. Dickey walked one and struck out three.

Unlike Tuesday, when he had to protect a 1-0 lead and could not, Dickey had a 5-0 lead after four Sunday night and cruised despite still being bothered by a partially torn plantar fascia in his right foot.

"It's just an issue we'll have to deal with for who knows how long, but it's manageable," Dickey said. "Eight innings, one run -- I'll take that the rest of the year."

Beltran doubled home Jose Reyes with the first run of the game against Tim Hudson (4-5) in the first, and when Reyes scored on a wild pitch with Beltran at the plate in the second, it became 4-0.

But when Beltran fouled a 1-and-2 slider off his right calf, cracking the shin guard he wears on that lower leg, things got a bit bleak.

"It was bad," Beltran said. "I've hurt myself like that before; it's why I have the shin guard. It took me a few minutes to recuperate."

He stayed in the game to finish the at-bat and struck out. "It was probably a good thing,'' he said, "because I couldn't run."

Despite his own lengthy injury history and the prolonged absences of David Wright and Ike Davis, Beltran believes treatment Monday will give him a shot at playing Tuesday in Milwaukee.

"It might take a day or two," he said, "and I could be back in the lineup."

That's what Davis said after his ankle injury, and that was 22 games ago and counting.

Reyes had another dynamic night with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Justin Turner knocked in a run for the 21st time in 21 games. Daniel Murphy had a pair of hits.

But the Mets might put a lineup on the field at Miller Park Tuesday night that features Reyes at the top and a cast of no-names below.

It's a bigger blow with Beltran, who is almost certain to be traded before the July 31 deadline and has shown impressive durability so far this season.

"The calf is sore, it's bruised and it's going to swell a little bit," Collins said. "Whether it's two or three days, we'll see."