01:00 AM EST on Thursday, March 23, 2006

Mets ace Pedro Martinez expects to miss Opening Day because of a nagging toe injury.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner has not pitched in a spring training game yet due to a sore right big toe and doesn't think he will be ready to start the season opener April 3 against the Nationals at Shea Stadium.

"Unless I can work some magic, I don't think I'll have enough time," Martinez said Wednesday. "I need at least two outings. You're not going to throw me two innings in a game and expect me to go on opening day.

"That's not fair to me, my teammates or anybody."

Left-hander Tom Glavine, who turns 40 on Saturday, will likely start the opener for the Mets.

ROUNDUP

MAYBE IN K.C.? The Royals will host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game between 2010 and 2014, pending voter approval of funding for stadium improvements. The Royals and the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs both signed 25-year leases in January to stay at Kaufman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium. Voters in Jackson County, Mo., will decide April 4 whether to approve two sales-tax issues to fund $575 million in work on the stadiums, which sit next to each other. "I'm really excited about the fact that Commissioner (Bud) Selig has awarded us an All-Star Game," Royals owner David Glass said on a media conference call. "The commissioner is a big Kansas City fan and he loves Kaufman Stadium. He loves the idea we are going to bring it up to modern standards." Glass said the team would look to host the game the year after the renovations to Kaufman Stadium are complete. Kansas City hosted its only other All-Star Game in 1973.

PONSON IN ROTATION: The Cardinals gave Sidney Ponson their fifth starting spot yesterday when they optioned prospect Anthony Reyes to Triple-A Memphis. Manager Tony La Russa said right-hander Adam Wainwright, who had also been in contention for the fifth spot, is now trying out for a bullpen job. Ponson signed a $1-million contract with the Cardinals after being released by the Orioles last September because of alcohol-related problems. Ponson's off-the-field troubles in Maryland ended this week when prosecutors said they had dropped a false statement charge against him. He was 7-11 with a 6.21 E.R.A. last year, but won 17 games in 2003. "He's gotten better every time, that's how I've been describing it," La Russa said. "He's got a history of durability and he's done as much in this camp as he could. It's all ahead of him, though."

PARTY IN TOKYO: Huge crowds cheered the Japanese team's triumphant return home from the inaugural World Baseball Classic last night, a day after its 10-6 victory over Cuba in the championship game. Hundreds of fans lined up to greet the players at Narita Airport, outside Tokyo, rushing to snap photos of the players with their camera phones. "We fought each game as best as we could, and as a result we've been able to bring you good news," manager Sadaharu Oh said. "When I saw all the people at the airport, I finally got the feeling that we'd achieved something big -- that we're world champions," said tournament MVP Daisuke Matsuzaka, Japan's starting pitcher in the final Monday night in San Diego. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters earlier in the day he "hadn't watched TV with such excitement for a long time. It was an incredible game."