On the Mets beat

A few items of interest before tonight's epic NL East showdown:

-- Paul Lo Duca (hamstring) has been activated and is in the lineup. Luis Castillo (knee) is back, too. But Endy Chavez will have to wait until tomorrow, presumably when Brian Lawrence is sent down to make room.

-- Look for Pedro Martinez to get another minor-league start before making his Mets debut on either Sept. 7 or 8 against the Astros at Shea.

-- Billy Wagner says not to worry about his whole "dead-arm" issue from the weekend. Wagner said he just needed a breather and should be fine for the stretch run. For what it's worth, manager Willie Randolph said that Wagner never mentioned "dead-arm" to him and he was under the assumption that Saturday was just a day off for his closer. Sounds fishy to me.

-- Don't count on Ambiorix Burgos for any relief when rosters expand next weekend. Burgos is headed to New York for more tests after complaining of a sore elbow. Mike Pelfrey also was given an extra day between starts but GM Omar Minaya said he's fine to pitch tomorrow for Triple-A New Orleans.

BTW, Chase Utley returns tonight after a DL stint for a broken hand, courtesy of LI's own John Lannan.

Here's the lineup:

Reyes .................. SS
Castillo ................. 2B
Wright ................... 3B
Beltran .................. CF
Alou ...................... LF
Delgado ................. 1B
Lo Duca ................. C
Green .................... RF
Lawrence ................RHP