ATLANTA -- The closer the Mets get to their four-game series against the first-place Marlins, the less likely it seems that Carlos Beltran will play center field during it. Beltran was out of the Mets' starting lineup again Wednesday night. And after taking batting practice for the second straight day, he didn't seem encouraged.

He did pinch-hit in the seventh inning, his first appearance since being removed from the game Saturday against the Yankees. But he still hasn't run to test his slightly torn right quadriceps.

Beltran batted left-handed against Adam Bernero, a right-handed pitcher summoned to face him after he had moved to the on-deck circle to face left-handed John Foster. He flied out.

The pitching change was something of a favor to Beltran, who said before the game that swinging right-handed still bothered him, causing the muscle to burn. He had experienced discomfort in the leg for three weeks before he felt the muscle "grab" Saturday.

Beltran had indicated that doctors had told him, since Saturday, he would need to miss three weeks for the leg to heal completely. But he didn't think that much time without playing would be necessary, nor would retroactive assignment to the disabled list.

He said Wednesday the swelling in the leg had lessened and that he feels that grabbing sensation in "different places." The trainers told him that's a sign of improvement.

"I really want to play in Miami," he said. "But right now I have to be smart. I still feel tightness."

"My concern is not having it linger on," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "A quad is a muscle you don't want to aggravate."

Glavine OK: Tom Glavine said the injury he suffered Tuesday night will not prevent him from pitching. The veteran left-hander injured the first knuckle of the middle finger on his right hand when he dived to make a terrific play on a squeeze bunt.

His hand still was sore Wednesday, and he said he probably couldn't swing a golf club -- no small consideration in the long term. But he can pitch.

People are strange: A poster held behind the Mets' dugout by a Mets fan from Connecticut on Wednesday read: "Pedro, please tie my shoe."

The fan flipped his rather used white baseball shoe to the Mets pitcher, and Martinez held it in his glove as if he were afraid to touch it.

"Am I supposed to touch this?" Martinez said. "What for? Are you collecting DNA?"

But he tied the shoe and tossed it back, and everyone seemed satisfied.

Mets history -- May 26: The 1964 Mets, not quite as inept as the '62 bunch, scored 19 runs in Wrigley Field. As the story goes, a fan telephoned the office of a news agency to determine how his team had fared that afternoon. "How'd the Mets do today?" was his question.

"Well," he was told, "they scored 19 runs."

And the caller responded: "Oh, yeah? ... Did they win?"

Eleven years later, Wayne Garrett got a pinch-hit, ninth-inning three-run home run off Andy Messersmith to give Tom Seaver and the Mets a 6-3 victory over the Dodgers at Shea. ... Before there was Anthony Young and after Jay Hook, there was Skip Lockwood. On this day in 1979, he ended his 14-game losing streak by beating the Pirates in relief, 10-8, at Shea. His previous victory came on June 13, 1978. ... In 1982, Wally Backman collected his first Major League home run, a three-run shot off Rick Camp in 6-4 victory in Atlanta. Three years later, after Camp (hitless in 62 at-bats at the time) had hit a home run against Tom Gorman to extend the famous, 19-inning, July 4-5 game in Atlanta, Backman said, "This one's even more surprising than the one I hit off him."

On deck: Thursday is potentially a day of rest for the Mets' bullpen, as Kris Benson will be on the mound. Benson is the most likely Mets starter to reach the eighth inning -- he pitched 7 2/3 innings in his last start, against the Yankees. He throws a higher percentage of strikes than his colleagues -- Ishii, Zambrano and Glavine -- and his pitch count gets him deeper into the game.

His counterpart is 36-year-old Frank Castillo, the former Cubs and Red Sox pitcher whom the Marlins have promoted from their Triple-A Albuquerque affiliate to fill the void in their rotation. Castillo had a 5-2 record and 3.79 ERA with the Isotopes.