Injury Could Sideline Mets’ Piazza for Season

New York Met catcher Mike Piazza will sit out at least six weeks, and possibly the rest of the season, after tearing his right groin muscle last week.

“It is in the back of your mind. It’s the ultimate fear,” Piazza said. “But I’m not looking at that right now. I just want to get the swelling out.”

Piazza saw team physician Dr. Andrew Rokito, who said the All-Star catcher had a Grade 3 strain -- the most serious -- with the muscle partially torn off the bone. Piazza will not need surgery.

“Six weeks is certainly the low end of it,” Met General Manager Steve Phillips said. “It’s hard to pinpoint beyond that.”

When asked if the injury could be season-ending, Phillips said, “It’s possible. We don’t know. We’re leaving it as an indefinite period of time. We can’t pinpoint it. It depends on the symptoms and the rehab process.”

Piazza was the Mets’ leading hitter, batting .333 with a team-leading seven homers and 15 runs batted in before being injured trying to avoid an inside pitch from San Francisco’s Jason Schmidt on Friday night.

Meanwhile, a Brooklyn man was charged with stalking Phillips after a series of alleged tirades at Shea Stadium.

A judge ordered Matthew Barnes, 27, held without bail until the defendant can undergo a psychiatric exam.

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Pedro Martinez was scratched from his start Tuesday night against the New York Yankees because of a strained back muscle.

Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein said Martinez might miss only one start. Manager Grady Little reserved comment on the severity of the injury pending results of an MRI exam.

“We’re always concerned about our ace,” Epstein said. “But he’s in great condition. His shoulder feels terrific and this is a setback, but we all hope it’s going to be a very brief one.”

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Houston Astro third baseman Geoff Blum was hospitalized because of severe headaches and a fever Tuesday night. He was scheduled to start against the St. Louis Cardinals but was replaced by Morgan Ensberg.... Yankee reliever Steve Karsay had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder and will sit out the rest of the season. Karsay had a partial tear of his rotator cuff repaired by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. The Yankees said Karsay is expected to be ready to pitch by spring training next year.... Florida catcher Ivan Rodriguez is expected to sit out the Marlins’ three-game series in Montreal after flying to Puerto Rico to tend to his ill mother-in-law.... First baseman Dave Hollins has left the Philadelphia Phillies’ triple-A team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is contemplating retirement. Hollins, an All-Star in 1993 who was injured most of last season, was put on the temporarily inactive list.