NEW YORK -- The squeeze begins Thursday. How does a club fit six pitchers into a five-man rotation? And 26 players on a 25-man roster? The return of Kris Benson to active duty asks both questions.

Benson, assigned to the disabled list on Opening Day because of a strained pectoral muscle, will make his 2005 debut against the Phillies on Thursday afternoon, one day after after Jae Seo makes his third appearance as the understudy to Benson's original understudy, Kaz Ishii.

And the next assignment for Victor Zambrano, the least effective of the Mets starter thus far, has been pushed back to Friday in Milwaukee as a result of Benson's return.

A six-man rotation has its benefits, particularly for Pedro Martinez. But it's not a likely solution to the overpopulation in the rotation. An indirect benefit is that after his scheduled start against the Brewers on Sunday, Martinez would make his subsequent two starts at home -- against the Cardinals and Yankees. And his next start would be in Atlanta.

Benson made one Minor League start, pitching three innings for Class A St. Lucie on Friday night. He threw 36 pitches in the game and 22 in the bullpen afterward. Manager Willie Randolph said Tuesday, the plan is for Benson to pitch no more than five innings.

Cameron's 2005 debut nears: The other almost-ready-to-return Met, right fielder Mike Cameron, played his first game for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides on Tuesday night. The plan was that he would play Wednesday as well and then make his 2005 debut Thursday or Friday.

Wright walking often: With 15 walks in 99 plate appearances, David Wright entered the game with one more walk than he had in 283 plate appearances last season. It doesn't necessarily mean Wright is being more selective.

Wright explained it this way: "I walk more if I'm not seeing the ball well. If I'm not seeing it well, I foul off more pitches, get deeper into the count, and that gives the pitcher more chances to throw pitches out of the strike zone."

Suits him fine: Clliff Floyd remembers how Marquis Grissom took care of him when he was a rookie with the Expos in 1994. Grissom regularly gave Floyd and Delino DeShields some of his meal money to use for cabs to the park.

"He didn't want us taking the [team] bus to the ballpark," Floyd said. "He wanted us there before he got there."

And Grissom bought each of his younger teammates a suit.

Floyd hasn't forgotten. He bought Wright a suit and "a walking suit" that looked suspiciously like a remnant of the '70s, the dreaded leisure suit. Wright was delighted.

"Cliff can dress," Wright said.

Cliff Floyd  /   LF
		Born: 12/05/72 Height: 6'4" Weight: 230 lbs Bats: L / Throws: R More info: Player page Stats | Splits Gallery Team Site | Shop

"He's a good dude," Floyd said of Wright. "A great dude. Everybody likes him."

Well, what about sharing meal money and the cabs to the park?

"I like him a lot," Floyd said. "But not that much."

Mets history -- May 4: Jack Hamilton allowed only one hit, a bunt single in the third inning by pitcher Ray Sadecki -- in the Mets' 9-0 victory over the Cardinals in 1966. It was the Mets' second complete-game one-hitter. Now they have 23, including the one Aaron Heilman pitched against the Marlins in April. ... The Mets defeated Cubs twice in 1969, each time by a 3-2 score. ... Tom Seaver and Tug McGraw pitched complete-game victories. . .Thirty-six yars later, Todd Hundley hit a pinch-hit grand slam in Montreal in a 5-1 victory. ... In 2001, John Franco earned his 422nd career save in a 4-2 victory against he Diamondbacks at Shea. Earlier that evening, Franco was elected the team captain in an unanimous vote of the players.

Furthermore: The Mets now anticipate a decision on their protest of their Saturday night loss to the Nationals by Wednesday morning. ... Pedro Martinez was challenged Monday to spell "Mientkiewicz." He was perfect until the "C". He ended it with "K-Z". But what would you expect from the pitcher who leads the league in K's?

On deck: Jae Seo gets a chance to extract some revenge against the Phillies on Wednesday night. Despite a career 2.78 ERA in five career starts against them, Seo never has beaten them, and they've beaten him three times, once 1-0.