Rodriguez saves day for Mets

Francisco Rodriguez's first instinct was to raise his arms skyward when he got Nick Swisher to pop up in foul territory with two outs in the ninth Friday night. But with the bases loaded, and the haunting image of Luis Castillo's drop in the back of his mind, K-Rod chose to wait until the ball settled into David Wright's glove to preserve the Mets' 4-0 victory.

"You guys didn't see it," the grinning Rodriguez said, "but I didn't even celebrate until he caught it."

With the Mets leading 4-0, it should have never been that nerve-wracking. But Jerry Manuel - despite having K-Rod already warmed up - opted for the seldom-used Raul Valdes in the non-save situation.

"I was trying to give [Rodriguez] a blow," Manuel said.

After Valdes allowed a pair of one-out singles, Manuel went to Rodriguez, who by then had warmed up twice. K-Rod said he would have rather been called on to start the ninth, whether it was a save situation or not.

"Yeah, definitely," Rodriguez said. "I was already hot. I wouldn't have had to change anything."

But in came Rodriguez, who allowed a 12-pitch walk to Brett Gardner to load the bases. K-Rod then struck out Derek Jeter and Swisher popped up to seal his 16th save.

Afterward, K-Rod said it's been difficult adjusting to warming up numerous times, and he'd rather come in regardless of the situation.

"It's not easy," he said. "It doesn't matter to me as long as we win. As long as they tell me early on that I'm going to be the guy."

Maine's rehab start

John Maine allowed one hit and an unearned run in 41/3 innings and 88 pitches for Triple-A Buffalo. His fastball was reported in the range of 86-88 mph.

Pelfrey vs. Yanks

The Mets' bats bailed out Mike Pelfrey last Sunday as he earned his ninth victory in an 11-4 rout of the Orioles. But Pelfrey is not likely to enjoy the same luxury Saturday in a rematch with Phil Hughes at Yankee Stadium.

Pelfrey beat Hughes at Citi Field on May 22, allowing one run in six innings in the Mets' 5-3 win. Against the Orioles, however, he had trouble holding on to an early 5-0 lead and struggled with his fastball and splitter.

It wasn't until the third inning, when Pelfrey threw his warm-ups from the back slope of the mound, that he regained the sensation of pitching downhill. Pelfrey usually does that during his pregame bullpen sessions.

"Obviously, I didn't have great stuff," said Pelfrey, who allowed five hits and three runs in the first two innings before throwing four scoreless innings. "But I was able to make an adjustment and get through six innings. Last year, I don't know if I could have done that."

He didn't pitch at Yankee Stadium last year, but he isn't concerned about it. "When things are going good, you don't hear anything," he said. "When things are going bad, you hear everything. I think I've learned to tune everything out."