Mike Blake / Reuters

Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran, left, collides with right fielder Mike Cameron as they dive for a ball during New York's 2-1 loss to San Diego on Thursday.

Beltran was driving from San Diego with Mets head trainer Ray Ramirez on Friday night and was expected to be at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

Cameron spent about 20-30 minutes on the phone with left fielder Cliff Floyd, his closest friend on the team. Floyd was emotionally spent in the moments following the collision, and was still talking about it with glassy eyes on Friday.

“He said he never saw Carlos. That’s a scary thought,” Floyd said. “I saw it one time and that was enough for me. It’s amazing that they basically came out of it like they are. All you can do is just thank the man above.

“You always think, in baseball, nothing like this ever happens. But this goes to show you that at any second, everything can change. He told me, ‘Other than my face, I’m fine.’ So he’ll be all right. We’re in California — and they’ve got the best plastic surgeons here.”

Randolph also spoke to Cameron by phone and felt much better after their conversation. He even thinks his Gold Glove right fielder will be back in the lineup before the season’s over.

“Cammy seemed pretty optimistic,” Randolph said. “Cammy’s always positive and always in good spirits, for the most part. I mean, he’s banged up, but he just indicated to me that he thought he’d be back. But that’s just him being positive and optimistic.

“I was concerned about his neck, but they said there’s no problem with that, so I assume he was OK. Once he gets the surgery over with and the swelling goes down, he’ll be fine.”

The Mets’ rookie manager also spoke with Beltran and was even more encouraged.

“Carlos sounded much better than yesterday,” Randolph said. “He was really disoriented at the end of the game. With concussions, you have to let them calm down. That’s why the next three or four days is important — to see if there’s no headaches and no vision problems.

“To put him on the DL right away would be playing it safe, obviously,” Randolph added. “But it’s also important that we don’t rush him onto the DL because he is feeling better today. So even if he doesn’t play this weekend, he might be able to go on Tuesday.”

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