MLB

Marcum likely won’t miss turn for Mets

Shaun Marcum is cleared to make his next scheduled start for the Mets, but Carlos Torres will be on standby just in case.

Manager Terry Collins said before last night’s 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks that Marcum has been bothered by soreness in his upper back and had recent tingling in his right hand that prompted an MRI exam on Tuesday.

“He said it’s the same stuff he had in spring training,” Collins said, referring to the stiffness in Marcum’s neck area that forced him to start the season on the disabled list. “But he pitched with it the other day. I don’t know what inning it started to bother him a little bit. So we thought we’d get him looked at. He’s fine.”

Marcum is expected to get the ball in Milwaukee on Saturday, but Collins plans to keep Torres rested the next two days in case something goes wrong.

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Collins said he plans to curtail Marcum’s work between starts to keep him from incurring further stiffness.

“This is a recurring thing that’s happened since spring training and I wanted to get it looked at and fortunately the MRI exam came back clean,” Collins said. “So it’s a matter of well I don’t know if it’s massages, cutting back his sides in between starts that will help him keep that from getting stiff.”

* Though Anthony Recker finished 2-for-4 with a homer on Tuesday, struggling John Buck returned behind the plate last night. But Collins said Recker eventually could get more playing time.

“Buck is catching Matt Harvey — I’m not breaking that up,” Collins said. “Now I haven’t decided who is catching [today] yet. But I thought Reck did a very nice job [Tuesday].”

Buck went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.

* The combination of hectic travel last week, late games this week (because of weather and extra innings) and extremely humid conditions has limited the Mets’ pregame on-field workouts.

“We have not had a day yet at home this homestand where we’ve had an organized batting practice because one of the reasons is we’re tired,” Collins said. “So we’re trying to give them little breaks here and there even though you know sometimes you say what’s an hour? Well to them it’s a lot.”

mpuma@nypost.com