And though Ordoņez said he is happy to be a Devil Ray, he admitted yesterday that he regrets the way his career in Flushing ended. In particular, he said insulting Mets fans was a "mistake.

"I made a mistake last year when I said the fans are stupid," Ordoņez said as he prepared for the Devil Rays' game at Yankee Stadium last night that ultimately was rained out. "We had a lot of frustration last year. The team was supposed to go to the playoffs and the World Series."

With a very disappointing season winding down, Ordoņez fired back at Mets fans who had booed him and the team by saying: "The fans here are too stupid. You have to play perfect every game. You can't make an error. ... Are we like - machines?"

Though he backed off his statement somewhat the next day - saying New York is "a good city if you win" - Ordoņez insisted yesterday that a reporter used his insults out of context.

The Mets traded Ordoņez to Tampa in the offseason for a pair of prospects and are paying $4.25 million of his $6.25 million contract.

So far the deal has been good for the D-Rays. Ordoņez is batting .316 - his best average ever after 10 games - and going into the A's game last night was tied with Miguel Tejada for most RBI by a shortstop with nine.

He already has one home run, which is surprising because he's only hit more than one in a season once. In 2001, he hit three.

RAINOUT FALLOUT: Last night's rainout - which will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader June 17 - was bad news for the thousands of fans who showed up expecting a game, but good news for Mike Mussina.

Mussina threw 120 pitches in Wednesday night's 2-1 win over the Twins and will now have an extra day to recover.

Last night's scheduled starter, Jeff Weaver, seemed slightly annoyed that he had to start warming up. He made a couple of throws in the bullpen but was still about 10 minutes from "cranking it up.

"Considering it was (raining) for a good half-hour before I went out there ...," Weaver said.

Weaver will pitch today and said he should be "fine," and Joe Torre said he will stick with basically the same lineup he drew up last night, which included Todd Zeile at third base and Bubba Trammell as DH.

But Jorge Posada will likely start. He was going to sit last night because of a cold and sore throat.

When the game was called at about 7:20, fans booed. Though Torre said he understood their frustration, he thought it was the right decision - "it was miserable out there."

LONG MEN ON SHORT END: The early success of Yankee starters is bad news for two relievers - Sterling Hitchcock and Jose Contreras, both long men.

Hitchcock has only pitched one inning in one game and Contreras has thrown just 3-1/3 innings in three appearances.