PHILADELPHIA — One down, 54 to go.
Francisco Rodriguez finally finished a game last night, even if it was in the eighth inning.
Following an offseason in which Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins said Rodriguez’s contract — and the $17.5 million option that kicks in if he finishes 55 games this year — wouldn’t factor into how the closer is used, the Mets proved true to their word last night, using him in a non-save situation.
And, according to Rodriguez, he remains unconcerned about his status, despite the staggeringly high salary he could be due in 2012 and the organization’s perilous financial state.
“I’m not worried about it at all,” Rodriguez said after tossing a scoreless inning in the Mets’ 10-7 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park last night. “Because obviously, it’s not under my control. I don’t pay attention to how many games it is. There seems to be a lot of people who care more about that than I do. I couldn’t care less.”
Yet considering the team’s off-field issues, it would seem natural that it would want to prevent Rodriguez from finishing games in which he isn’t in line to get a save.
“It never entered my mind,” Collins said. “He needed work, so I told him he was going to get an inning.”
“That’s always the manager’s decision,” Alderson said.
Rodriguez was pleased to get into a game, since he pitched in just one of the team’s first four. And on Saturday, he coughed up his first opportunity to close out a game when he blew a save in Florida. He was the winning pitcher in that game.
He hopes he isn’t involved in too many more games like last night’s.
“Every time I put a zero on the board like this, it’s good,” Rodriguez said. “But it’s not the way I want it. I want to finish it in the ninth with the lead. My job is to close out wins, not losses, and that’s what I plan to do.”
As for last night, he opened by walking Ryan Howard, but escaped unscathed.
“I can’t sit for four or five days and then be sharp,” Rodriguez said. “I was a little out of sync with the first two batters. After that, my mechanics were together. I feel good, I just need to get my rhythm back.”
Regardless, he insists he won’t be distracted by how he’s being used.
“Whatever happens, happens,” Rodriguez said. “If I pitch, I pitch. If I don’t, I don’t. There’s nothing I can do.”
dan.martin@nypost.com