MLB

Bay needs breakthrough to stay off disabled list

Jason Bay appeared to take another step closer to the disabled list yesterday, when Jerry Manuel said the left fielder hadn’t gotten much better from the mild concussion he suffered on Monday.

“He’s a little better,” Manuel said. “But nothing significant at this time.”

And that could be bad news for the struggling Bay, who crashed into a wall trying to make a catch in Los Angeles, but didn’t begin to feel symptoms until the flight home on Sunday.

The Mets will wait another day or two to see if they subside and then he could be sidelined for longer.

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“If there’s no progress at that time, we’ll make a decision to put him on the DL,” Manuel said before last night’s game.

GM Omar Minaya said there was no exact time frame that the Mets are waiting for before making a move.

* Manuel — who said he hopes that if the Mets do make a trade before Saturday’s deadline, it’s for a pitcher — explained his reasoning for moving around his rotation, going with R.A. Dickey today against the Cardinals and moving Mike Pelfrey to tomorrow in the series opener with Arizona.

“We like the matchup for R.A.,” Manuel said. “Also Mike has not been very good in day games. And it gives me an opportunity to catch Henry [Blanco] and Pelfrey, as well as Henry and Johan [Santana last night] with a day off in between.”

* Hisanori Takahashi, slated to start on Saturday, pitched a scoreless seventh in last night’s 8-7, 13-inning loss to the Cardinals at Citi Field.

* Mike Hessman made his first start with the Mets last night, in place of Ike Davis, who was given the night off at first base but pinch-hit in the eighth.

Hessman’s 329 career homers in the minors are more than any other active player and he didn’t waste time showing off his power last night. He went 1-for-5 and doubled in two runs with a liner off the left-field wall in the first.

The 32-year-old last started a major league game on Sept. 25, 2008. He hit a homer and played third base for the Tigers against Tampa Bay.

“I wasn’t expecting the call,” said Hessman, who had 18 homers for Triple-A Buffalo, but had struggled after returning from a hand injury that kept him out for over a month. “But I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”