On the Mets beat

As if two aching knees weren't bad enough, Carlos Beltran is now sporting a bruised left triceps, courtesy of a Johan Santana fastball. Santana drilled Beltran during the live BP session, and the Mets centerfielder said it was good thing he flexed his arm or it might have really been a problem.

Beltran said he would be fine, but the bruise was pretty nasty, and you could see the stitch-marks from the baseball in black-and-blue. The funny thing is that Beltran, like many of the veterans, always request to face a more established pitcher with good control for these sessions. Or at least manager Willie Randolph thought it was funny as he relayed the story.

"I walked up to him afterward and told him, be careful what you wish for," Randolph said. "The guy with probably the best control nicked him."

Beltran, who is slowly recovering from offseason surgery on both knees, will not take part in tomorrow's intrasquad scrimmage and seems to be a while away from playing games.