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TB@TOR: Morrow strikes out seven in five innings

Earning a spot in the Mets' rotation after a dominating performance in his previous start, Miguel Batista will try to recreate some of that magic when he faces the Blue Jays, his former team, on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

Blanking the Brewers through seven innings on Monday, the 41-year-old right-hander gave up only four hits and struck out five for his first win of the season.

"He just pitched a tremendous ballgame, so he's not going anywhere right now. And until Chris [Young] is ready or we think that Miguel needs to go in another role or do something different, right now he's going to be that guy," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

"He's a member of the rotation right now. This guy has pitched well enough to be in this rotation right now. As we go down the road, we'll have to make moves when the case calls for it. But right now, he's in the rotation."

Before getting his turn in the rotation, Batista spent the majority of his time in the bullpen, much like his role with Toronto from 2004-05, when he worked as a middle reliever, closer and spot starter.

In 68 career games at the Rogers Centre, including 23 starts, Batista is 14-11 with a 4.37 ERA.

He'll oppose a club that swatted five home runs in a 14-5 rout Friday night in the series opener. Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow, who had his four-game winning streak snapped in his previous outing, starts for Toronto.

Morrow allowed six runs (one earned) on four hits against the Rays, while walking four to drop to 4-2 with a 2.22 ERA.

"I didn't think Brandon had the power to his stuff that he typically has had, particularly over this last four-start stretch for him," said Toronto manager John Farrell after the start. "Not only has he been powerful, he also has had very good command, and when you issue that many walks, we're creating issues for ourselves to have to battle through and pitch around."

Mets: Wright likely to get Saturday off
• While third baseman David Wright was sick with a head cold that he called "more annoying than anything," he still managed to crack the starting lineup on Friday. However, Collins planned to give Wright a day off Saturday.

"It's just one of those things where it takes a few days to get better," Wright said. "After that, I should be good to go."

• Major League Baseball has suspended Mets Minor League second baseman Daniel Muno 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, the league announced Friday.

Muno, 23, was batting .283 with five home runs and an .800 OPS in 38 games for Class A St. Lucie. He was coming off a breakout professional debut last summer, ranking 17th on MLB.com's Mets Prospect Watch after posting a .466 on-base percentage in 59 games with Class A Brooklyn.

Blue Jays: Arencibia hits in five spot
• Thursday marked the first time this season that J.P. Arencibia hit above No. 7 in the batting order, hitting out of the five-hole against the Yankees. On Friday, he was there once again for the Blue Jays game against the Mets.

He finished the game going 3-for-5 with two home runs and a career-high six RBIs.

"Against certain matchups, yes," Farrell said when asked if Arencibia would see more time in the middle of the order. "He's in a solid run right now with overall production."

Worth noting
• The Mets have 12 comeback wins this season, tied for second most in the Majors, one behind the Marlins.

• Before Friday's game at the Rogers Centre, the last time the Mets played a game on artificial turf was when they traveled to Puerto Rico to take on the Marlins in a three-game series from June 28-30.

• Jose Bautista is 2-for-9 with three strikeouts in his career against Batista.

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