Tejada out of lineup, but pinch-hits vs. Nats

NEW YORK -- A day after rolling his right ankle in a botched double play attempt, Ruben Tejada was out of the Mets' starting lineup Saturday against the Nationals. But both Tejada and manager Terry Collins said the shortstop felt well enough to play if needed.

"I'm good," Tejada said. "They made the decision to keep me out of the starting lineup today. But I'm ready if they need me to play defense, pinch-hit, something like that. I'm ready to play."

Tejada did enter the game as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning and proceeded to draw a walk and score a run.

With Tejada on the bench, Justin Turner started at shortstop for the first time this season, batting leadoff against left-hander Gio Gonzalez.

Tejada rolled his ankle in the seventh inning Friday, attempting to field an errant flip from second baseman Daniel Murphy. He remained on the ground for several moments as trainer Ray Ramirez tended to him, but ultimately stayed in the game.

"He's lucky he didn't break his ankle," Collins said after watching the replay. "I just thought he'd be pretty stiff today. I wanted to get Turner a game anyway, so I just said I'd give him 24 extra hours to get him some treatment and make sure he's ready for the next couple of weeks."