Meanwhile, over at Citi Field on Saturday, J.J. Hardy blistered a fourth-inning pitch from Johan Santana toward left-center field -- a long drive which, in Milwaukee, probably would've landed near the Pfister Hotel downtown. But Citi Field is enormous between right-center and left-center, like a hybrid of Petco Park and the Giants' home field, as one Padre described it to a Met compatriot earlier this week. Beltran raced back, slowed in front of the left-center field wall and caught the ball on the front edge of the warning track.

After some visiting players saw the park recently, they predicted that Mets' hitters will soon have some unflattering things to say about the dimensions.