MLB

CHURCH RETURNS

For the first time since being concussed by Yunel Escobar’s knee to the head on May 20, Ryan Church was back in the Met lineup, hitting sixth in tonight’s series finale against the Dodgers. For the first time in a dozen games — nearly two weeks — the Amazin’s look like a whole team.

“I get a few of my guys back (tonight),” Willie Randolph said of Church, who had to be symptom free for 48 hours before being cleared. “Churchie’s ready to go. Luis (Castillo) said he feels much better. So we’ll start looking a little bit more like a full squad. (We’re) ready to go.”

The right-fielder collided with Escobar while trying to break up a double-play on the final out of the second game of a May 20 doubleheader. He missed 11 straight starts, and hadn’t played at all since a pinch-hitting appearance on Monday — Saturday’s appearance on deck purely for show.

“He wasn’t going to hit. Pretty strategic: That was pretty good, huh? He didn’t get it, really. He said he was going to be a decoy, but I don’t know if he wanted to walk up the steps. He was walking all woozy,” Randolph said, quickly adding “Just kidding, just kidding.”

But there was Church tonight, filling a big void in their lineup.

“It was a 48 hour time frame without any symptoms. We’ve been in constant contact with the doctors and after every workout they’ve been finding out how I was doing,” Church said. “I talked to the doctor this morning and told him I was fine, and I could go ahead and be cleared to play. They told me if there was anything I felt to let someone know.”

With Church chomping at the bit, and the Mets clearly missing his bat, he’s leading their regulars in batting (.309) and second in home runs, RBI and slugging, they chose to let him pinch-hit four times from May 22-26.

That not only kept them from putting Church on the DL, but risked him getting hit in the head with a pitch at the plate or a collision while running the bases. Despite having already been concussed this spring Church insists he isn’t worried about being more susceptible to a third. Or fourth.

“It was a freak thing that happened. I’ve just got to put that behind me and not worry, (just) be cautious taking people out at second, running into the wall,” said Church. “(I just want) a fly ball, one of those in-between with an infielder running out and I’m running in. Make the play and go, ok, we’re good.

“I just want to get (it) over with, maybe run into the wall — lightly — and go from there. I’ve just got to quit running into people; that’s how I look at it. Then I’ll be concussion free. I’m not worried about any of that stuff. (I’ve got to) play with a free mind, play my game.”

Both Randolph and Church insisted tonight’s cross-country flight for tomorrow’s tilt in San Francisco wouldn’t be an issue.

“No, the doctor said concussions, flying, there’s no correlation between the two,” Randolph said. “There was stuff (in the media), but there’s no evidence of altitude effecting that. We checked with the doctors. It’s our understanding from the trainers that they’ve signed off on that. It’s not a problem.”