Piazza Is Put on Disabled List

The New York Mets put catcher Mike Piazza on the 15-day disabled list Sunday because of a sprained ligament in his right knee.

The former Dodger was injured in a rundown in the seventh inning of Friday’s 10-3 victory at Montreal. He returned to New York on Saturday and initial tests showed that he sprained the medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments. But David Altchek, the Met team doctor, examined him Sunday and said there was no damage to the PCL.

Surgery won’t be needed and Piazza probably will be able to return to action when his stint on the disabled list is over, the Mets said.

Piazza, 30, was three for four with a home run and five runs batted in before leaving the game for a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning. He is batting .429 with two home runs and eight RBIs.

Todd Pratt will be the starting catcher in place of Piazza. He was one for five Saturday, singling in the winning run in the top of the 11th inning and was one for four Sunday.

The Mets also said that right-hander Rick Reed will have an MRI today after leaving Sunday’s game in the third inning because of a strained left Achilles’ tendon.

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Former Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo gave up three earned runs and six hits in five innings as his Iowa Cubs defeated the Salt Lake Buzz, 10-5, in an International League game.

Nomo got the victory in his first start since signing with the Chicago Cubs April 1. Sunday’s game was his first in nearly three weeks.

Nomo was released by the Mets after struggling during spring training. He gave up a single and a double to his first two batters and gave up two runs in the first inning. Jacque Jones, the second batter, lined a breaking ball off the top of the center-field wall.

Nomo gave up a solo homer to David Ortiz leading off the third, then retired nine of his last 10 batters, striking out three.

Nomo will start two more games for Iowa, and the Cubs then will decide whether to promote or release him.