Current SNY commentator and former Mets pitcher Ron Darling was interviewed on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC this morning. He was quite candid when talking about former manager Willie Randolph, steroid use and naming the ballpark Citi Field.

He was there to promote his new book “The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching, and Life on the Mound.”

Here are some quotes from the interview:

• Willie Randolf’s coaching style: “sometimes you know you, teams need more of a kick than a hug.”


• Steroid use: “when you don’t use steroids . . . you come to the ballpark and it’s almost you’re defeated before you get there”


• The sullying of Citi Field’s name “definitely carries some kind of tarnishing”

Well, it looks like for all intents and purposes that left fielder Daniel Murphy will bat in the No. 2 hole, right behind Jose Reyes. It’s a spot that everyone from Paul Lo Duca to the recently released Jose Valentin has excelled in, so it should be prolific for the young outfielder.

Meanwhile, according to Mets.com, Jerry Manuel officially named Livan Hernandez the fifth starter, no surprise there.

In other news, the Mets inked left-handed pitcher Ken Takahashi to a Minor League deal.

Read here for more on all three developments.

Oliver Perez redeemed himself, at least for one game, as he pitched a brilliantly in prime time tonight. He went 6 2/3 innings, allowing only one run, a homer. The bigger surprise may be that he only gave up one walk.

It was quite the turnaround from his last outing when he gave up six walks, five hits and six runs in just more than half the innings he pitched tonight. Even management was pleased with tonight’s outing.

JJ Putz is looking as good as ever. He relieved Perez and pitched a scorless 1 1/3 innings. Bobby Parnel pitched the ninth, which was only marred by a walk, and continues to impress.

Even though the Mets won, they only managed to muster five hits. Two of those came from Daniel Murphy, who belted his first homer of the spring. He also had a double.

The only other run came off of an error after Fernando Tatis tripled in the eighth inning. David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo had the other three hits.

The Mets play another night game Tuesday, with John Maine facing the Florida Marlins at 7:05.

Take a tour of Citi Field in pictures by The Journal News’s Mark Vergari.

Here are a couple of samples:

Take a Tour of Citi Field to see the rest of the pictures.

Some fans are being left out with the Yankees and Mets ticket plans at the new stadiums. Read the story here.

It wasn’t perfect. Shakedown cruises rarely are. But St. John’s and Georgetown gave Citi Field a more than adequate introduction, at least in the eyes of Mahopac native and Hoyas center fielder Tommy Lee. Read the story here.

Mike Pelfrey was supposed to pitch today but was pulled after a long rain delay. He had thrown only 12 pitches when the rain came down fast and furious. When it finally let up, it was decided to have him throw a bullpen session on Tuesday.

Brian Stokes took over for 2 2/3 innings and was blemished only be two walks. Sean Green then came in and gave up a run. But it was against Casey Fossum, who pitched another 2 and 2/3 innings, that the Orioles beat up on. He allowed six hits, one a homer, and three runs.

The Mets didn’t put up much of a fight on offense scoring only one run among a lineup of mostly reserve players. Ryan Church was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jeremy Reed had a hit and two walks.

The same two teams face each other Monday night at 7:05 in Port St. Lucie. Oliver Perez is set to pitch.

Starter Dillon Gee gave up two runs, four hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings today against the Florida Marlins. Sean Green, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez combined for 2 2/3 shutout innings. The hit against K-Rod was an infield single.

Fernando Nieve, who is vying for one of the last pitching spots, went two innings but gave up a double, a walk and a run. Submariner Darren O’Day also was tagged for a run in an inning  of work.

The Mets’ bats broke out in the third inning when they scored four runs off of Marlins starter Josh Johnson, who went 5 2/3 innings relinquishing five runs, three earned, and seven strikeouts. Jose Reyes had a two-run singled, followed by Daniel Murphy’s RBI double and Carlos Delgado’s RBI single.

Both Delgado and Jonathan Malo, who keeps putting up impressive numbers of late, had two hits. Ryan Church, who had three strikeouts, and Omir Santos had the other two hits for the Mets.

The Mets next play at 1:05 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles. Mike Pelfrey will start, followed by JJ Putz.

The Mets were finally able to best the Washington Nationals in a game that saw David Wright return to the lineup and starter Johan Santana pitching into the seventh inning.

Santana was great, allowing only one run and four hits and striking out six. He was the first Mets pitcher to go more than six innings.

At the plate, the Mets had nine hits. Daniel Murphy led the team, going 3-for-4, with two RBI. Carlos Delgado was the only other Met to have more than one hit, one a double. Fernando Tatis had the other two RBI. Wright was 1-for-4, and Carlos Beltran had a double.

The Mets next face the Marlins at 1:10 p.m. Saturday in St. Port Lucie.

The Mets decided today to reassign Nelson Figueroa and Jose Valentin, send Rene Rivera and Andy Green to the minors, release Ron Villone, and option Carlos Muniz and Cory Sullivan option to Triple-A, according to Mets.com.

Valentin, who made a strong push to make the team after rehabbing for a year, said he’s going to see if other teams are interested in him.

That leaves Jeremy Reed as the fifth outfielder and pitchers Brian Stokes, Fernando Nieve, Bobby Parnell and Darren O’Day vying of the last two pitching roster positions.

Despite developing a splitter, Muniz was let go after not impressing with his other pitches.

Read more here.

Carlos Beltran is trying to help more kids from Puerto Rico get into baseball and the majors. Using his own money and $10 million from the Carlos Beltran Foundation, he’s set to open a new English-only high school next year.

Read more of New York Daily News sports reporter Adam Rubin’s story.

It seems like all of New York, and some of his team, are getting on Oliver Perez for his poor outing yesterday in which he gave up six walks, five hits and six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen has said he doesn’t like what he’s seeing from Perez since coming back to the team from the World Baseball Classic, where he didn’t pitch all that well. He said he doesn’t think Perez’s arm strength is where it should be at this point. Basically, he’s saying Perez is out of shape.

The Mets management weren’t the only ones who are concerned with Perez’s appearance and attitude. MLB.com is reporting that Johan Santana, the consummate clubhouse leader, talked to Perez this morning about getting back into fighting form.

“I talked to him. … He’s got to get into pitching again and get going. He knows that,” Santana told MLB.com’s Marty Noble. “He’s got to get his mechanics and his command.”

ESPN Radio’s Brandon Tierney said on his talk show this morning that re-signing Perez to a three-year $36 million deal was insane. Tierney, who clearly isn’t a Perez fan, said spending that much money on someone who has more losses than wins in his career and is so erratic might not be worth it, which leads us to the . . .

Question of the Day: Do you agree with him? Was re-signing Perez a mistake or can Warthen work wonders?

In what can only be described as an improvement over his last outing Mets righty John Maine went five innings, allowing three runs (only one earned) and three walks. It was much better than his last outing when he surrendered five runs in four innings.

This time the Mets’ bats were behind him as they had a seven-run seventh inning. The only starter missing from the lineup in today’s game was David Wright. Jose Valentin filled in for him at third and was no slouch at the plate, having had two hits, two walks and two runs.

Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado all had two hits apiece, while Omir Santos nailed a two-run long ball. Reyes also had three RBI.

JJ Putz recorded the win, relieving Maine in the sixth inning. He and Bobby Parnell, who’s pitched very well so far, each recorded a scoreless inning, while Nelson Figueroa and Carlos Muniz each gave up a run to finish out the game.

The Mets next play the dreaded Washington Nationals at 7:10 p.m. Friday with Johan Santana making his second start of the spring. That game will be aired on SNY and MLB.TV.

Poor Mets pitching overshadowed the return of two Mets starters, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, to the lineup.

Anyone who has followed Mets pitcher Oliver Perez knows he is prone to walking batters. In what surely is a troubling sign, Perez allowed six walks in less than four innings. Two of those walks in the first inning led to two runs.

Perez’s next two innings were a lot more palatable, even though he gave up another walk in the second and a hit in each of the frames.

AP File Photo

The fourth inning was when he truly started to melt down. Perez walked three batters, including two back to back. A Placido Polanco homer drove in three more runs. He walked yet another batter before being pulled for Carlos Muniz, who gave up a double to score Perez’s sixth earned run.

To borrow from WFAN’s Howie Rose, you can put it in the books. Even if it’s not exactly official, Livan Hernandez is the fifth starter now that Freddy Garcia has been re-assigned to Triple-A or extended spring training.

Garcia wasn’t horrible in his outings but he did manage to give up runs in every game he pitched, save for one against the University of Michigan.

Meanwhile, Mike Pelfrey may have been a little spent in his last outing vs. the Houston Astros. Due to a muscle strain between his ankle and his shin, he hasn’t been able to do full running drills for three weeks. This could lead to a lack of conditioning and stamina that is usually gained from those kinds of exercises.

Finally, reliever Carlos Muniz has a new pitch to add to his arsenal: the splitter. It may be what is keeping him in the majors thus far. It may not be as good as one the J.J. Putz has refined but Muniz’s is getting better thanks to pitching coach Dan Warthen. They say it’s especially effective against lefties.

According to the New York Times, restaurateur Danny Meyer is throwing a curve to people looking for the usual stadium fare.

Tired of the same old foot-longs, sausage and peppers, floppy hamburgers and pizza stuck to the top of its cardboard container? Meyer wants to shake things up a bit with offerings such as steamed corn, pulled pork and “dog bites,” or Kosher hot dogs coated in matzo meal.

Meyer, who runs six restaurants and is making his first foray outside of Manhattan, is also working on the Delta Sky360 Club for those who have more discretionary funds. With tickets ranging from $175 to $495, patrons can get pizza, special beer and desserts.

For those who can’t spend like it’s 2007, there’s the Taste of the City food court that offers tacos and Belgian fries.