On the Mets beat

BY DAVID LENNON

LOS ANGELES – One way to analyze this season for the Mets is by studying the film from an X-ray machine or MRI tube. Without an injury-depleted outfield, do they even sign Marlon Anderson? And looking ahead, it now appears that Jose Valentin could be lost for the season after suffering a fractured right tibia Friday in the Mets’ 4-1 victory over the Dodgers.

While Valentin, a key member of last year’s NL East champs, is on his way out, Anderson just got through the clubhouse door. Anderson has been with the Mets for only two days, but he again made an impact, scoring one run and manufacturing another to break a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning.

After Jose Reyes’ leadoff double, Anderson executed a perfect bunt that LA reliever Roberto Hernandez scooped up before bouncing the throw past first baseman James Loney for a run-scoring error.

“That's why you like Marlon,” manager Willie Randolph said. “He knows how to get into the mix. He knows how to make things happen. What Marlon is doing now is why we wanted him here. He knows how to think and how to react and how to play winning baseball.”

After Anderson’s bunt, Carlos Beltran crushed the next pitch for his second home run in as many games to let Oliver Perez (9-6) exhale and give the bullpen some room to breathe. Perez allowed six hits and the only run in 7 1/3 innings was Nomar Garciaparra’s homer on the first pitch of the second inning. His eight strikeouts were the most since he also whiffed eight against the Giants on May 29.

Perez was lifted after Russell Martin’s one-out single in the eighth inning and Joe Smith was quickly pulled once Jeff Kent followed with a base hit. In came Pedro Feliciano, who got Luis Gonzalez on a grounder back to the mound and Garciaparra on a flyout to center. Billy Wagner pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances. With the Braves’ loss earlier in the night, the Mets extended their lead over Atlanta to 3 ½ games.

But the second straight win over the Dodgers came at a hefty price now that Valentin, 37, is potentially lost for the season after fouling a Brett Tomko pitch off his right shin in the fourth inning. When the clubhouse opened after the game, Valentin was stretched on the couch, his shin packed in ice, a downcast look on his face.

“He's a gamer,” Randolph said. “He's always been a fighter. No one feels as bad as I do about the situation he's in. If it's six weeks, maybe he can come back and help us in the stretch run.”

Valentin will have his leg put in a cast on Saturday and he is expected to be on the disabled list for a minimum of six weeks. With only nine weeks remaining in the regular season, Valentin has a very small window to return.

“It's just a little crack, but it's enough to take me out of the game for six weeks,” Valentin said. “It seems like everything is happening to the same leg.”

Valentin already was wearing a brace on his right knee to support a torn ACL, which cost him five weeks on the DL from April 30 to June 7 and is likely to need surgery after the season. Most of Valentin’s right leg is covered by the brace and another four inches of wrap beneath it, but the foul tip hit him on a small spot that was exposed.

“That’s my luck,” Valentin said.

Now it’s Ruben Gotay’s turn. Gotay did his part Thursday with three hits and a pair of RBIs as the Mets scored a season high 13 runs to beat the Dodgers. But manager Willie Randolph, intent on sparking Valentin for the second half, went with the 14-year veteran instead on Friday.

Earlier this week, Randolph explained his thought process with Valentin. Obviously, Gotay has been the hot hand, outshining the incumbent with a .354 batting average and displaying surprising pop with four home runs in 96 at-bats. But the manager feared that going with Gotay on a daily basis would be like giving up on Valentin and the Mets could not afford to do that.

But with two outs in the fourth inning, Valentin fouled a 2-and-1 pitch off his right shin, grimaced in pain and immediately began walking toward the Mets dugout. Valentin stopped on the grass to pull up his right pants leg and appeared to be examining his shin when Randolph and trainer Ray Ramirez joined him.

Ramirez looked at the leg for a few minutes before all three stood up and Valentin limped off the field. By the way he was moving – his right leg barely bending – it looked like something more serious than a bruise. Not long after, X-rays taken at the stadium revealed the fracture.

With Valentin gone, Gotay inherited his 2-and-2 count and slapped the next pitch directly to second baseman Jeff Kent, who handled all three outs that inning. It was the first time Tomko had retired the Mets in order, but they had little to show for their efforts.

Through the first five innings, the Mets left three runners at second base and Carlos Delgado stranded two of them by striking out each time. When they did score in the first inning, the run was gift-wrapped by the Dodgers. With one out, Anderson – back again in the No. 2 hole -- lifted a routine fly ball toward left-centerfield. As Luis Gonzalez jogged to camp under it, Juan Pierre rushed over, and as the two tried to avoid each other, the ball dropped between them.

The error was charged to Pierre for interfering with Gonzalez and Anderson wound up on second base. Two pitches later, Wright smacked a line drive single to center that put the Mets ahead, 1-0. For Wright, it was his sixth RBI in the first five games of this road trip. On the next pitch, Wright picked up his 21st stolen base in 23 attempts, but Delgado, with the count 3-and-2, took a called third strike.

Perez also had trouble in the first inning when Pierre reached on an infield single and then stole second and third. But Gonzalez took a fastball that split the plate for the third out and that set the tone as Perez deftly pitched his way out of every jam to follow.

There weren’t many. After Garciaparra’s leadoff homer in the second inning, Perez whiffed Tomko to strand two in the fourth and got Martin to bounce into a double play in the fifth. In the sixth inning, Kent opened with a double, but Perez retired the side to keep the score tied – long enough for his teammates to finally do something about it.