Mets manager Jerry Manuel met with Carlos Beltran behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss the outfielder's playing time. Beltran didn't start on Tuesday, but he was used as a pinch hitter late in the game. He has been stuck in a 2-for-23 slump and has struggled at times defensively since returning from off-season knee surgery. "We had a nice long chat about where [Beltran] is and what he has to do to get back to playing at a major league level," Manuel said. Beltran said: "He told me that he was going to give me a day off once in a while to keep me fresh. It wasn't a big deal for us. We talked about baseball and how I feel, nothing crazy. It was a conversation between a manager and a player."