Islanders general manager Garth Snow said he considers his team still in the playoff race. But the GM still chose to build for the long-term rather than make a late push, trading 6-6 defenseman Andy Sutton to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday in exchange for a 2010 second round pick that originally belonged to San Jose.

The draft choice, expected to be in the 55-60 overall range, will help come June. In the meantime, the Senators obtained Sutton, who entered last night ranked second in the NHL with 153 blocked shots and tallied four goals and eight assists in 54 games for the Isles.

“This is by no means an indication we can’t win,” Snow said to reporters before the game. “We’re only [five] points out and this is a great opportunity for [our] young players to fight for a last playoff spot.”

Goalie Dwayne Roloson could follow Sutton out of Long Island by Wednesday’s 3 p.m. deadline. But Roloson, who is signed through next season, could stay as Rick DiPietro is out indefinitely after experiencing swelling in his surgically repaired left knee.

Snow traded a defenseman to Ottawa just before the deadline for a second straight season. The Isles shipped Chris Campoli, along with forward Mike Comrie, to the Senators last February in exchange for a 2009 first-round pick. Snow packaged that selection in a trade to move up and draft defenseman Calvin de Haan 16th overall.

The 34-year-old Sutton is an impending free agent who totaled seven goals in 135 games over three seasons since signing with the Islanders, going minus-6 in accumulating 199 penalty minutes.  Ottawa leads the Northeast Division by a single point over Buffalo and entered Wednesday in sole possession of the Eastern Conference’s third spot.

“We wanted to get a little more depth on the blue line and I think Andy fits that need,” Senators general manager Bryan Murray said to reporters in Ottawa. “I wanted somebody I could look up to – and I have to do that – and then up front with Matt Cullen it gives us the versatility that I talked about so it doesn’t appear there’s much more going to happen. But who knows at the end of the day what might stick its head up and maybe be available.”

Sutton joins the fifth team in his career. The 10-year veteran has made the Stanley Cup playoffs once, logging zero points and a minus-2 rating in a first-round series for an Atlanta Thrashers squad that was swept in four games by the Rangers to end the 2006-07 campaign.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity,” Sutton said in an audio clip disseminated by the team. “That’s the first thing I said to Bryan, I thanked him so much for the opportunity. Being an older player and getting the chance to play on such a great team and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup is a dream come true.”

Islanders vs. Blackhawks Audio Report

Finally after a day of waiting, Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust are Rangers, while the team bids goodbuy to Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins.

No matter how Jokinen meshes with Marian Gaborik, this is simply a good trade for the Rangers. They gave up nothing, while getting the cap flexibility for next season if their new No. 1 center leaves as a free agent.

These are the trades general manager Glen Sather needs to make. The Rangers can’t give up their young talent, as that’s the future of the organization, so he has to be nimble and use the bad fits in moves to make the team better.

In this trade, Sather just moved two very disappointing parts, including one that didn’t want to be in New York, and got himself a rental, which could make a huge impact this season. Coach John Tortorella knows Jokinen from his years in Tampa, as the new Ranger was the No. 1 option on the rival Florida Panthers. If anyone knows the enigmatic ex-Islander, it’s Torts. And if there’s a fit with Gaborik, the No. 1 line with Vinny Prospal on the wing, gives the Blueshirts a great scoring combination.

And if there isn’t a fit, then the No. 2 line may get a whole lot better, because there will be some secondary scoring going on, something that has been missing for most of the season.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the Rangers are a perfect team, far from it. It still needs to shed some really bad contracts in Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival and Donald Brashear, but it’s a start, and one that could be a sign of things to come.

Although this looks like a win-win, of course this could go south. No one thought getting Higgins and Kotalik were bad moves over the summer. In fact, this space lauded the arrival of the Smithtown, NY native, but it was not meant to be.

It’s not easy playing in your hometown, which is something Higgins learned very quickly in New York and Kotalik just never fit in with Tortorella, something not many can do. Yet, neither player were life long Rangers, just some spare parts in a greater scheme of things.

Yet, the young players are a different story. Sather must keep his young talent, since that’s the way the organization grows long term. Brandon Dubinsky still needs to grow and Ryan Callahan can improve as well. On the blue line, three young talents in Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto, and Matt Gilroy are the future. Sure they make their mistakes, but their errors are far less glaring then Redden’s or Rozsival’s.

Maybe in the next month, Sather will be able to move another player or two. It will take a miracle to get rid of Redden’s bloated contract and Brashear appears to found his life in the Blue Seats with the addition of Prust, but sometimes things happen. Who would have thought Scoot Gomez would have been traded after last season or Jokinen and Prust come to New York for a couple of spare parts.

Things happen. And now the Rangers are better for it.

This semi-hypothetical situation is a mere reflection on the Mets doing their best in a thin free agent and trade market. Minaya did have an offseason checklist that was quite long and scratching a corner outfielder off of it is a positive, but did he get the right player for the team without overpaying?

The general manager brought Jason Bay to Flushing at anything but a discount and although he is a talented player, is he the cleanup-type that they were so desperately looking for? At 31, Bay still has many quality years ahead of him and should be productive for the length of the deal, but he will be making superstar money and has yet to shown that he can carry a team.

The four-year, $66-million contract both sides agreed to (pending a physical) has to make one think why it has taken nearly three weeks to hammer it out when there were clearly no other serious suitors for Bay, another glaring point in itself. The Boston Red Sox wanted to retain him and made a generous offer for the same length but $6 million less. Bay chose to test the waters out there on the open market and did not find as many takers as he may have expected.

Other than the Mets, there were no other teams making more than brief inquiries of Bay. Maybe Minaya did not bid against himself, but he is on the hook for $16.25 million a year for a player who strikes out frequently and will not make folks forget Kevin McReynolds in left field any time soon.

Bay was actually a Met farmhand at one time before being traded to the San Diego Padres in a two-for-one deal, with the main player changing addresses being righthanded reliever Steve Reeves. He then made his way to Pittsburgh and won the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year award. Playing in virtual obscurity for a team spinning its wheels, the Canadian-born outfielder was a steady hitter who played in 162, 159 and 145 games the next three seasons. He also hit 30 home runs and drove in at least 100 base runners in two of those campaigns.

In 2008, Bay was part of the three-way trade that shipped Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and had his highest numbers as far as productivity (36 home runs, 119 RBI) last summer in his walk year. He also had his worst season as far as striking out goes with 162 Ks and his batting average (.267) was the second lowest of his career.

For a team that was lead in home runs by Jeff Francouer with 12, even the mention of someone who can hit 30 long balls is good news. But Bay is probably geared more for what he was in Boston, which was a role player with a lot of talent around him. Maybe he had to carry the load in Pittsburgh, but there was not much pressure there and championships were the furthest expectation at PNC Park. That is not the case at Citi Field.

Minaya is on the hot seat and must have felt that he needed to do something so he can say he filled a need with what was available. You can easily make the argument that the organization would have been better off waiting for a player who filled more holes if they were going to spend a large sum of money.

But that would have been a cold act at this time of year. Bah-humbug.

But this year is different, with so many holes to fill, so the Mets, the field is wide open for the Amazin’s in Indianapolis, just like the race the city entertains every Memorial Day Weekend.

The Mets have a lot of holes to fill, after a 92-loss season. So this year, much maligned GM Omar Minaya has a handful to fill holes in left field, catcher, the rotation, and the bullpen.

So it stands to reason that the rumors were flying yesterday with a Philadelphia website reporting the Mets acquired former nemesis Pay Burrell for Luis Castillo and Detroit pitcher Edwin Jackson also coming to Queens for an unidentified player. Neither was true.

What we do know is that the Mets are trying to make a trade or two in Indy, forcing their way to improve the team even with a meager $25 million to spend on free agents.

“I don’t want to say I’m that close,” Minaya said to reporters in Indianapolis. “But closer than we were. I’m getting either an idea that we’re going to get it done or not get it done. Put it this way – I’m further along today than I was [Sunday] night.”

It looks like he is trying to trade Castillo, especially with the team looking at free agent second baseman Adam Kennedy. And this morning the NY Post is reporting Minaya is talking to Milwaukee about a John Maine for Corey Hart swap. (And no, Minaya was not seen wearing his sunglasses at night.)

Yet, that’s the insanity of the Winter Meetings, especially this season with the direct line to the event through programs like Twitter. In the past when a reporter would get a rumor, he or she would have some time to research it, but now once said it’s just a few taps on the Blackberry away from becoming public.

So expect the rumors to fly over the next three days, as the Mets desperately try to fill in their holes. With the Mets shopping Castillo, every bad contract out there will be rumored coming to New York, even if the fit isn’t there, while Minaya looks for bargains to fill his holes.

Oh, he will kick the tires on free agents as well. If the price is right for Bengie Molina, then he will be signed – look for a Castillo like 2-year, $12 million contract there – and of course, Minaya will look at John Lackey, although he may be out of the team’s price range.

Yet, Lackey’s price may come down and if a few smart trades do occur, then Minaya may have the money for a high price ticket like the Angels erstwhile ace. And if that happens, then the Mets may be able to salvage a very bumpy 2009.

One thing is for certain though – at these Winter Meetings, the race has just started.

Yup, after starting the year well on pace to miss the NBA playoffs for a sixth straight year, including a 1-9 beginning (the worst ten-game start in their 64 seasons of existence), en route to a miserable 3-14 record through November, the Knicks, for the time being, have turned things around.

New York has gone 4-1 in December, including its first three-game win streak of the season after defeating the Portland Trailblazers, 93-84, at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

Notice that final score.

Yes, that’s Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks, not Pat Riley’s, winning that way.

Remember when the ultra-intense Tom Coughlin first came to New York to coach the Giants, and that style seemed to rub his players the wrong way, and Coughlin remade himself? A sort of kinder, gentler, more coaxing, rather than the lashing out until-his-players-got-it-right style was much more effective. It kept Coughlin’s players loose enough to battle back from the brink of playoff elimination to winning a championship in a matter of weeks.

Maybe D’Antoni, in a different way, has also realized that he too, needed a departure from the philosophy which he had been used to for years, in order to get his own team to respond.

Let’s first add, that at 7-15, certainly no one is going to argue that this current good stretch of basketball that the Knicks are in, might even lead to playoff contention this season, let alone anything along the lines that Coughlin accomplished with the Giants. D’Antoni simply doesn’t have that type of talent, at least not until next year’s free agent bonanza hits.

But, D’Antoni has realized that his usual style of the successful running and gunning in Phoenix wasn’t going to work with his Knicks in New York. During their early struggles this year, D’Antoni and his staff recognized that the Knicks were playing too fast offensively, and they needed to slow everything down, move the ball, find good shots, and they have. That’s also led the team to refocus its energy and effort defensively of late, and slow other teams down.

All of that combined, has so far paid huge dividends during the Knicks’ mini turnaround. Ever since the Knicks started taking their time, they’ve taken off.

Their recent resurgence all started when they throttled the Phoenix Suns, who came to New York with an NBA-best 14-3 record, only to leave 126-99 losers to their former coach.

The Knicks are truly hustling, and dare we say it, playing solid defense, while executing nicely on offense, since they decided to settle down a bit and play in a lower gear.

They’ve also shown some nice poise and composure for one of the youngest teams in the NBA. After beating the Suns and losing in Orlando, they traveled to Atlanta, one of the better teams In the Eastern conference, a team that at 8-2 thus far, has rarely lost at home this season. But, they have, to the Knicks.

After starting awfully, trailing 11-0 in an instant, the Knicks rebounded to lead 35-34 after the opening quarter, extending that margin to a 13-point halftime lead. And, when the Hawks rallied with a big third quarter to regain the lead by one, the Knicks closed strong for a 114-107 upset victory.

Knicks’ forward Al Harrington said Atlanta’s 11-0 run made him think, “Man, we better do something or we’re getting blown out of the building.” They definitely did, and not just in Atlanta.

Trailing 61-53 at halftime to New Jersey at home on Sunday, D’Antoni had his team again slow it all down and play at a pace they could handle, outscoring the Nets 53-36 in a more defensive-minded second half, in a 106-97 win.

On Monday night, the Knicks broke open an 18-all tie after the first quarter, outscoring Portland 60-37 in the middle two periods.

And, even after the Trailblazers started on the comeback trail with a 17-2 fourth-quarter run to pull to within 80-71, forward Danilo Galinari ignited a 6-0 Knicks’ run with a three-pointer from the top of the arc before grabbing an easy steal and assisting on a fast break, conventional three-point play by forward Larry Hughes, to push the New York lead back to a comfortable 86-71, on the way to yet another win.

While the Trailblazers shot 47 percent (31-66) from the field, they were held to just 1 of 8 from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Knicks were a scorching 50 percent (13-26) from behind the arc, while notching a ball-sharing 20 assists on 32 field goals.

Hughes, who led five Knicks in double figures with 21 points against Portland, hit on some of Knicks’ keys to success lately. “Ball movement, we’re more aggressive, we’re playing better defense, just playing better on both ends of the court,” he said.

After the game, D’Antoni said, “A lot of it is psychological. They’re feeling better about themselves and they’re just having a lot of confidence.”

That self-assurance is leading to a lot of good things for the Knicks.

Defensively, they’ve been active, while forcing turnovers, blocking shots, and drawing charges.  And, offensively, they’ve been getting into the paint, finding each other, knocking down shots, drawing fouls, and mostly… slowing the game down a little, just as D’Antoni and his staff have wanted.

That last one has been the biggest key. D’Antoni and the Knicks might finally be realizing that an NBA season is a marathon, and at least offensively for them, they’re having new found success living by the old adage “steady wins the race” — or least lately, basketball games — for the Knicks… four of them so far, in the first five games of December.

Two September collapses followed by a summer of long-term injuries to key components may be the big picture but the smaller one – perhaps an even more glaring one – is that neither Willie Randolph or Jerry Manuel were able to get the best out of their players. Heck, they weren’t even able to get a full day’s pay out of the majority of the locker room on a daily basis.

To say the Mets gave up before they were mathematically eliminated this past summer is like saying reality television has become a bore. Even the young replacement players for the banged-up veterans appeared as if they were just going through the motions. Mental and physical errors made the season reminiscent of the 1962 Mets, with the main difference that they were loveable losers while these imposters were down right deplorable.

Now we have the pleasure of seeing it all over again for the fourth consecutive season. Jeff Wilpon has already announced that both Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya will be back.

The core group of players that have all been either a part of the collapses, the injured or unable to take charge when needed may all return, as well. The one question mark is first baseman Carlos Delgado, who is a Type B free agent after his contract ran out while he was on the disabled list.

The 37-year-old underwent hip surgery back on May 19 and left a huge hole not only at his position but also as the Mets’ only real power threat, the team had a popgun offense. Delgado then strained an oblique muscle while rehabbing and that put him on the shelf for good. Not exactly much of an endorsement for his conditioning.

Now Delgado has stated that he will be playing winter baseball in his native Puerto Rico to salvage what may be a career nearing its end. If he shows that he can still consistently hit the ball out, the Mets may offer him a one-year deal with incentives. But has the front office taken into consideration that a veteran such as Delgado has been a part of both the 2007 and 2008 collapses and never has taken a step up to become a team leader?

While we’re on the subject of players who have no desire to be in the driver’s seat, let us bring David Wright into the mix. The young third sacker is certainly talented and a model citizen but had the perfect opportunity in 2009 to become Mr. Met. He certainly did not do that and actually took a few steps back. He also has shown that he is a singles and doubles hitter at a power position, more alarming especially since the Mets lacked a big stick everywhere else in their line-up. His home run total (10) was reminiscent of a utility player.

Carlos Beltran did his best to play through pain but still had to succumb to missing a good amount of time due to a bum right knee. But he also is a ‘stand behind someone else’ type of person. He is not a take-charge guy by any means, even though he gets paid like one. That was one intangible that Minaya did not seem to think or care about when he threw boatloads of money at the free agent centerfielder, who did his best to take less from the cross-town Yankees before settling on the Mets.

And the last of the fearsome foursome? None other than Jose Reyes, who has made a career out of committing rookie mistakes year after year. Bad habits such as not running out ground balls or pop ups and horrendous base running mistakes has definitely rubbed off on some of the younger players on the team.

What needed to be done was not and Manuel seemed more like a substitute high school teacher than a major league manager. Basic fundamentals that are a part of spring training were botched up through Game 162. Inexcusable to say the least, but management seems to be content with him as the field boss because he is the furthest thing from controversial. The image-conscious Mets love to remain squeaky clean, even to a fault.

While the outcome of 2010 may be predictable wit the Mets, their excuse of what went wrong will not be as easy.

If they can nab the 31 year-old, it would be a real step in the right direction for the Mets. Yet, there’s still a lot of work to do before Figgins hoists his No. 9 jersey at Citi Field.

First they have to figure out where he would play. A third baseman last season, that position is secured by David Wright, so the Mets would have to move Figgins to either second base or left field. Although a huge hole is open in left, the team would prefer to have the free agent play second base, where he would be continue his one-two punch with Jose Reyes out in the field.

Of course, Luis Castillo is still on the team with two years and about $12 million coming to him, so general manager Omar Minaya is shopping his incumbent to open the door for a new, more multi-dimensional player. Already there have been rumors about Chris Snyder and Lyle Overbay, so the feeling is something will happen with the Mets much maligned second baseman.

Yet, more is needed than just Figgins. The Mets also will kick the tires for Matt Holliday and inquire about ace Roy Halladay, but something tells me that the organization will come up short there.

Although COO Jeff Wilpon told fans in a letter and the press a day after the season, the Mets will have a similar payroll as last season, it also means the club will need to make some tough decisions when it comes to filling positions. Make no mistake, the club won’t have a Yankee-like payroll of $200 million, rather, it will come in between $145 – $150 million, so there will be some limitations here.

All of that means the Mets will have between $25 – $30 million to play with coming into this offseason with the expiring contracts coming off the books, and factoring in pay raises for next season. Figgins will cost between $8 – $10 million so right off the bat, you are down to $22 million for a couple of bats and a starter.

If they can dump Castillo, they will probably have to take a similar contract back, which means that will be somewhat of a wash. Yet if it fills a hole, like catcher with Snyder or first base with Overbay, it will mean more money to spend elsewhere.

It also means the high priced free agents will be too rich for the Mets if they get Figgins. Scott Boras wants $18 million a season for Holliday and if they Mets could pull off the trade for Halladay, he will command a Johan Santana kind of contract of $22 million a season.

If Holliday’s price comes down to say between $12-$15 million per season, then the Mets would be able to afford the former Rockies outfielder. It will also allow the club to start the season with Omir Santos behind the plate if Castillo can’t fetch a catcher like Snyder.  It will also allow the team to use Daniel Murphy at first with Ike Davis waiting in the wings down in Buffalo.

The bottom line is this though…the Mets will only have about $15 million to spend on a big bopper in the lineup if they add Figgins.

Then the Mets will have about $7 – $10 million to get another starter, like Jason Marquis or Randy Wolf, and fill in the bullpen.

All of this sounds nice in November and will mean nothing if Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, and David Wright are not healthy next season. But it is a plan and a start, which is all a Met fan can hope for right now.

On Sunday night, the left-hander from Baton Rouge did the next best thing, and did his part to propel the 2009 New York Yankees into the World Series.

The Yankees haven’t been to the Fall Classic since 2003. That year marked Pettitte’s last season with the team that signed him as an amateur free agent in 1991. After being allowed to leave (or was pushed out, depending on who you talk to), to Houston for three seasons, he came back to the club in 2007. After going 14-14 a year ago, including a poor second half to the 2008 season, his returning this year was up in the air as well.

It was only after the Yankees had made their high-profile signings that they addressed bringing Pettitte back, which they eventually did. The team is fortunate they did so, because they are going back to the Fall Classic because Pettitte limited the Angels to just one run over 6 1-3 innings, striking out six and walking just one to earn his 16th postseason win, the most in baseball history.

There were 50,173 fans vociferously booing Joe Girardi when the skipper jogged to remove Pettitte in the top of the seventh, but it was quickly turned to a thundering standing ovation, as the tall southpaw tipped his cap to the largest crowd to see a Yankee game this season.

Mariano Rivera made things interesting in the eighth, when he allowed a two-out RBI single to Vlad Guerrero. It was the first earned run he had allowed at home in the postseason since Game 2 of the 2000 World Series.

But in the ninth, Rivera’s margin for error was expanded, as the Yankees scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to some sloppy defense by Los Angeles. He made short work of the Angels in the ninth, retiring the side in order to earn his 37th postseason save, also the best in MLB history.

The Yankee offense took advantage of the Angels in the fourth. After Derek Jeter worked out a walk to load the bases, left fielder Johnny Damon stepped up to the plate. It was Damon, as a member of the Red Sox and in all of his grizzled glory that quieted old Yankee Stadium in the second inning with a grand slam on Javier Vazquez’s first pitch in Game 7, 2004. He had failed in his first attempt with the bases loaded earlier in the night, but delivered in this at-bat, driving in two runs with a base hit up the middle.

Mark Teixeira hit a ball far enough in the hole that shortstop made Erick Aybar’s throw to second base a shade late to force Damon at second base. Then, Alex Rodriguez, whose first year in the Bronx was that miserable 2004 season, and who has been trying to make up for that and several other postseason failures since, drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 3-1.

It was all the offense they needed.

***

There were three “Yankee Stadium” signature moments before the game, the first being a loud roar from the crowd when Tino Martinez was spotted in a luxury suite and shown on the immense HD screen in center field.

The second eruption came when Bernie Williams was announced as the thrower of the ceremonial first pitch.

The third was the thundering sound of “Welcome to The Jungle” played through the Stadium’s sound system, sending the Bronx into a frenzy.

Then Pettitte took over.

***

CC Sabathia was named the ALCS MVP, and will face Phillies’ left-hander Cliff Lee in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. The two pitchers were teammates on the 2007 Cleveland Indians, a club that blew a 3-1 ALCS lead over the Red Sox.

More at BaseballDigest.com.

The Mets only choice is to pull him back, keeping Wagner for the rest of the season.

First reported by FoxSports.com, Wagner’s agent Bean Stringfellow informed the Red Sox of his client’s decision this morning. The lefty reliever said he would waive his no-trade for the right team. Apparently the Red Sox weren’t it.

If he went to Boston, Wagner would have setup closer Jonathan Papelbon, a situation which the 38 year-old didn’t want to do long term. So he put demands on the Sox, including not to pick up his $8 million option and not offering him arbitration, meaning there would be no compensation to the Sox when the lefty walked as a free agent.

So now he will stay in New York for the rest of the year, meaning the Mets would be responsible for the roughly $2.7 million left on his contract. The team will most likely decline the $ 8 million option, giving Wagner a $1 million buyout, but it will probably offer the reliever arbitration, netting two draft pick when he signs elsewhere next year.

The other option of just assigning Wagner’s contract to the Red Sox was out of the question, because that is also covered in the no-trade.

Keeping Wagner will mean the Mets will potentially have three closers for the rest of the season. Francisco Rodriguez is entrenched as the closer and is going nowhere, while J.J. Putz is scheduled to begin his rehab assignment in Brooklyn tonight and could rejoin the Mets within a week.

The first two weeks of August nearly derailed the Ducks quest for a sixth straight Atlantic League playoff berth. But the subsequent fortnight is helping the Flock gain an edge of Bridgeport in the wild card race, continuing with a 12-3 victory Sunday over York.

George Lombard’s torrid hitting continued with a two-run home run to support Troy Cate’s strong effort. The Ducks opened the scoring on a second-inning RBI groundout and extended the edge to 3-0 an inning later when Lombard followed Ray Navarette’s walk by taking Dan Foli’s pitch deep to left.

Lombard’s blast marked his seventh homer in just 28 games. Cate made those runs stand up, limiting the Revolution to just two runs on six hits in six innings as the Ducks capped a seven-game home stand with five victories over York and Bridgeport.

Including the final two July games, the Ducks lost eight in a row and 12 of 13 this month to drop to 13-19 as of Aug. 14. The Ducks responded by winning six in a row and have now won eight of the past 10 to make it back to .500. Thanks to a strong first-half record, the Ducks surged 5 ½ games ahead of Bridgeport in the overall wild card standings with 38 games remaining.

“Right now, we’re all playing the game the right way and everyone is swinging the bat well,” Lombard said.

The Ducks scored in every inning except the first and eighth. A four-run sixth turned the contest into a blowout and improved Cate to 9-4.

Lombard’s play continued to help the Ducks achieve a previously elusive consistency level. The former Atlanta Brave went 1-4 Sunday and is batting .373. A mid-July free agent pickup, Lombard carried a .621 slugging percentage and .469 on-base percentage into the game to emerge as a capable replacement for Preston Wilson, who is on the inactive list with a season-ending shoulder injury.

“I get my work in and just go up there and try to have a quality at-bat every time,” Lombard said. “I’ve never been a numbers guy. The first year I was drafted, I hit a buck-40, so I’ve never been caught up in stats.

“Stats don’t mean a thing until the season is over when you can look back and reflect on your year.”

As a 18-year-old second-round pick, Lombard batted .140 in 40 games for Atlanta’s Single-A Gulf Cost Braves rookie league in 1994. But the 6-0 left-handed bat developed quickly and said he is working closely with coach Kevin Baez and manager Gary Carter. Lombard said he is looking to make it back to the big leagues for the first time since he played for the Nationals in 2006.

Lombard, a six-year major league veteran, is slugging at a .636 clip. His numbers at Citibank Park are even more impressive. The former Rays, Tigers and Nationals corner outfielder started the afternoon with a staggering 1.000 slugging percentage and .646 on-base percentage at home. Six of his seven home runs have come at Citibank Park in just 13 home games

“It’s a good place to hit,” Lombard said. “The lighting is good at home plate and it’s your home field, so you can come out and do your early work. I feel more comfortable here.”

Navarrete finished 3-4 with two runs scored while Brooklyn native Johnny Hernandez provided plenty of insurance runs, logging three hits and three runs in five at-bats along with two RBIs as the Ducks pounded out 19 hits.

Lew Ford started the evening as the league’s leading hitter. The ex-Minnesota Twin went 1-4. Hernandez opened the scoring by lacing a leadoff single to start the second and scoring on Matt Cavagnaro’s RBI groundout.

Following Lombard’s long ball, the Ducks scored twice in the fourth and fifth innings before Hernandez added a two-run single through the right side in the sixth. Cavagnaro, who racked up three RBIs, drove in another run on a groundout while Rob Sandora also added a RBI single.

Three Ducks reliever pitched one inning reach to close the win and send the Ducks on a seven-game road trip through Camden and Newark with momentum.