1.   Even though Valentine obviously wanted to rest catcher Mike Piazza, he also cited the All-Star Game break as the reason for his patchwork lineup Saturday.

2.   If you want to rest your catcher some to get to this point and make your pitcher happy, fine.

3.   Valentine could face a delicate situation if he rests the catcher and then needs to use him as a pinch-hitter late in a game.

4.   The All-Star catcher was rested by manager Johnny Oates.