Tony La Russa on Scott Spiezio starting at third tonight instead of Scott Rolen: "[Rolen] has been cleared by the medical staff, so I just watch the baseball side. I just believe that if you know Scott’s stroke and you see some of the swings he took yesterday, you know there’s something preventing him from being right. And that doesn’t mean anything for tomorrow. You know, [Steve] Trachsel, [Oliver] Perez. That’s just it for today, and [we’ll take it] one game at a time."

Willie Randolph on Cliff Floyd and Friday’s latest news: "[Floyd] had an ultrasound today and there was no further damage found in the ultrasound. We’ll hopefully have him ready for pinch-hitting duties tonight." Randolph did not rule out the possibility of Floyd returning to the field this series.

Happy Friday the 13th. We touched on that subject at MLB.com, and keep an eye on No. 13 if he comes in to close another Mets game tonight.

Chris Carpenter vs. John Maine at 8:19 p.m. ET.

Everyone who has followed David Wright’s MLBlog all season knows what kind of crowd he has there. All you have to do is read the comments; he’s today’s teen idol. This fan during pregame batting practice is a great example of that following:

Here is another pregame Powervid during BP: