Those Mets

NIESE LOOKING FORWARD TO BIG AUDIENCE

JOHN PUMPED UP ABOUT NATIONAL TV COVERAGE

The Mets have half the situation taken care of -- activating pitcher Jon Niese from the disabled list to start on Saturday against the Marlins. The question of the second half -- whose roster spot will he be taking? Niese, who strained his hamstring on May 16, threw 80 pitches in a rehab start with Triple-A Buffalo earlier this week and said that he felt much better. "I'm excited," Niese said. "After the start in Buffalo, I felt really good. It felt good to face hitters again. I'm looking forward to tomorrow." Though Niese (1-2, 4.79) is returning, the Mets remain unsure about whose place he'll be taking. They'd like to send Oliver Perez to Triple-A, but his contract stipulates that he must agree to such a move, which he has yet to do. The Mets hung on for a 4-3 win over the Marlins on Friday night in the series opener after dropping two of three to the Padres and being outscored, 25-11, in San Diego this week. Meanwhile, Marlins right fielder Cody Ross said that he and his teammates are looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of a national television audience on FOX Saturday Baseball. "I'm actually really excited about it," Ross said. "I think back, 10 years ago, I think guys were more excited about being on national TV. There wasn't MLB Network, the Baseball Package, MLB.com. There wasn't a lot of that stuff back then. To me it's awesome to be on national TV, to be playing on FOX. It's something you dream about as a kid, to be on national TV." (MLB.com)