updated 9:07 p.m. ET Oct. 1, 2006

WASHINGTON - New York Mets right-hander Steve Trachsel left the team Saturday to fly home to California because of family issues and was scratched from his scheduled start in the regular season finale.

Left-hander Oliver Perez will replace Trachsel (15-8) against the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

The NL East champions weren’t sure when Trachsel will return.

“We’ll probably have a workout on Tuesday, so hopefully he’ll be back by then. But it’s not certain,” Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said.

New York already was without Pedro Martinez, who will have right rotator cuff surgery next week. Orlando Hernandez will pitch Game 1 and Tom Glavine will start Game 2 of the Mets’ first-round playoff series. Trachsel and rookie John Maine had been considered candidates to appear later in the best-of-five round.

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