11.   Hubbard, the center fielder, escaped with a bruised right thumb and a contusion on the right side of his forehead.

12.   In addition, Kevin Lowe suffered a bruised thumb and Ulf Samuelsson ended up with a cut mouth, but both will probably not miss any action.

13.   Kidd jammed his already bruised left thumb late in the third quarter, but X-rays late last night revealed no break.

14.   No fuss, no bother, no bruised thumbs.

15.   One is Messier, the captain, whose skills are somewhat diminished because of a bruised left thumb.

16.   Plus, there are more suspensions to be served, Mark Grudzielanek and F.P. Santangelo are sick and Todd Hundley has a bruised thumb.

17.   Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek returned to the lineup after missing one game with a bruised right thumb.

18.   Stanley, who had not started at catcher in six of the last eight games because of a bruised right thumb, wore the mask on Tuesday night.

19.   The most disturbing news for Mets fans was that the slugger Mike Piazza was out of the game with a bruised thumb and that Todd Pratt would replace him.

20.   They even had Mike Piazza back in the lineup after he missed a start on Thursday with a bruised right thumb.