71.   The addition of Rick Reed once his foot heals will force Mets Manager Bobby Valentine to choose between Masato Yoshii and Allen Watson as the fifth starter.

72.   That would be the first day the Mets would need a fifth starter.

73.   The Braves may have found their fifth starter.

74.   The Braves use a fifth starter only when the schedule demands it.

75.   The Braves were shut out for eight innings by fifth starter Amaury Telemaco and then teased with a two-run rally that came up short in the ninth.

76.   The Atlanta Braves, who, for all their trophy-case Cy Young award winners, are once again searching for a viable fifth starter, cannot argue.

77.   The club was prepared to make Gagne the fifth starter before they signed Martinez in January.

78.   The fifth starter.

79.   The fifth starter is not a factor.