Mets pitcher Tom Glavine lost his two front upper teeth in an automobile accident Tuesday while going from LaGuardia Airport to nearby Shea Stadium in a taxicab.
Glavine also got stitches for a cut lower lip. He was to be released from a hospital Tuesday night and miss his scheduled start tonight against Houston.
"I'm just thankful it's not worse," Mets manager Art Howe said after a 7-3 win over the Astros.
The accident occurred at 2:15 p.m. as Glavine headed to the ballpark. The left-hander had spent Monday's off-day with his family in Atlanta.
Glavine was leaving LaGuardia in a taxi that collided with a SUV on the overpass of the Grand Central Parkway as he left the airport grounds, the Mets said.
Port Authority police and the New York Police Department responded to the crash, and the Emergency Medical Service took Glavine by ambulance to NYU Medical Center in Manhattan.
Glavine was conscious, Port Authority spokesman Tony Ciavolella said. Mets' oral surgeon Dr. Robert Glickman treated the pitcher.
Mets' team physician Joseph Bosco said Glavine was resting comfortably, and the pitcher was to go straight to his home in Connecticut.
GIAMBI ARRIVES: A smiling and upbeat Jason Giambi arrived Tuesday at the New York Yankees' spring training complex to start working himself back into playing shape after being diagnosed with a benign tumor.
"Definitely, I'm feeling better," Giambi said when departing the complex.
Wearing sweat pants and a white T-shirt, Giambi said he would talk about his situation this afternoon at a news conference.
"Jason Giambi has been cleared to resume baseball activities immediately," Yankees physician Dr. Stuart Hershon said after consulting with doctors at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
The first baseman, who has felt weak for most of the season, has not played since July 23. The Yankees at first diagnosed him with an intestinal parasite, then said July 30 that he had a benign tumor, without disclosing where it was located.
VINA DONE: Tigers second baseman Fernando Vina will not play again this season because of a partial tendon tear in his left knee. Vina has been on the disabled list since May 12 with the knee problem and an injured right hamstring. Vina saw Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Anaheim Angels' team doctor. There hasn't been a decision on whether Vina will have surgery on the knee.
COACH SUSPENDED, REINSTATED: Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson was suspended for Tuesday night's game against Houston for violating baseball's slow pace policy, then was reinstated before the penalty took effect.
"The whole thing has been rescinded," Bob Watson, vice president of on-field operations in the commissioner's office, said without elaborating.
The Mets and baseball spoke after the suspension was issued, and the commissioner's office has held the penalty in abeyance. There was no further word on when a definitive decision would be made.
Earlier in the day, Peterson was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount for a run-in with plate umpire Tony Randazzo last Wednesday at Montreal.
Peterson was suspended for "his failure to adhere to umpire Tony Randazzo's enforcement of major league baseball pace of game procedures," Watson said in a release before the Astros-Mets game.
BERROA DEMOTED: The Kansas City Royals sent struggling AL Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa to Double-A Wichita on Tuesday. Berroa, who signed an $11 million, four-year contract in May, was batting just .249 with five homers and 30 RBIs. Last year, the shortstop hit .287 with 17 homers and 73 RBIs.