Mets: Pedro still the 1

ATLANTA - Mets officials expressed full confidence that Pedro Martinez would have a successful outing tonight, then start Game 1 of the division series next Tuesday or Wednesday at Shea. But they've started to make contingencies just in case.

Orlando Hernandez is on target to start the division series opener over Tom Glavine if Martinez can't make the Mets' first postseason pitch since 2000.

Martinez offered few words yesterday. But the ace, scheduled for his final regular-season start today, got right to the point.

Asked if he felt well enough to take the mound at Turner Field, Martinez replied: "Good enough."

Asked if his calf was at all an issue, he replied: "A little bit."

Asked his goal for the matchup with the Braves, he said: "Health," then getting philosophical added: "Health - it's a beautiful thing."

And with that, Martinez left his locker.

Despite suggestions on Monday that Martinez could be pushed back from Game 1 of the division series, all signs point to the ace opening the Mets' postseason on the Shea mound. That is, barring a health setback tonight.

"If he's healthy, I would say that he's going to get the ball," Willie Randolph said.

Tonight is expected to be Martinez's third and final regular-season start since returning from a right-calf injury that sidelined him for a month.

He was driven to tears in Pittsburgh in his first game back off the DL, when he lasted only three innings and allowed four runs and six hits while tossing 68 pitches against the Pirates.

Then, six days ago at Shea, Martinez breezed through four no-hit innings, but the Marlins scored four runs against him in the fifth. He tossed 87 pitches, but his fastball mostly settled in the 83-84 mph range because he was hesitant to go full throttle on the calf before the postseason, especially since it stiffened in his final inning.

"I'm not going to be looking for him to throw 90 mph (tonight) or looking for him to strike a certain amount of guys out - just that he gets through his work healthy and we'll see how he feels the next day or two after that into the week," Randolph said.

Both manager and pitcher said that Martinez could be pushed back if he was unhealthy, but Randolph insisted that was a hypothetical, since he expects his ace to be fine. "Anything's a possibility," Randolph said. "Does it really make sense to speculate on stuff like that? Then it gets out that I said that. Then it puts it in other people's minds that it's a possibility. Right now Pedro is going to pitch (tonight). I'm confident he's going to pitch in the playoffs for us. Let's wait and see."