Ordonez is 2-for-20 over the past five games and it seems his benching a few weeks back hasn't helped him at all. He can no longer be considered an everyday player, as he will sit at least once or twice a week until he snaps out of his season-long slump, which may not happen anytime soon.

He was scheduled to catch his second consecutive game Friday at Triple-A Omaha. If his troubled herniated disc holds up, he will likely be activated Saturday. Unfortunately, he'll have to battle Miguel Olivo for playing time, as he's taken advantage of Buck's injury to put up solid offensive numbers with 12 home runs and 32 RBI in 57 games.

Punto left Wednesday's game after he suffered a lower back injury.

Activate the slugger immediately, especially if you're in a daily transaction league.

Perez allowed three runs, but it was his pitch count that was worrisome. Of his 92 pitches, only 46 were strikes. The Mets were planning on starting Perez against the Dodgers Wednesday if all went well, but seeing as it didn't, that plan may now be in jeopardy. Stay tuned.

Gonzalez will pitch Sunday on four days rest while Anderson will get an extra day off and face the Red Sox Monday. Manager Bob Geren thinks the extra rest will be beneficial to Anderson, who tossed five solid innings in a 7-1 win in his last outing when he was similarly rested.

"Well, I want to say I'm sorry to the fans and to my teammates. I don't want to get into my medical record," Ramirez said while wearing sunglasses during the news conference. "Showtime tonight!" was how he ended the conference. This sounds like the forgotten script to a Major League sequel. The show begins Friday with Manny's return from a 50-game ban for performance enhancing drugs.