NEW YORK -- Shawn Estes will have a lot of expectations placed on him when he takes the mound against Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees on Saturday.

	Estes

Many people will look to Estes to settle a score with Clemens for beaning Mike Piazza and throwing a shattered bat in his direction -- both events which occurred more than a year before Estes joined the New York Mets.

Yet Estes is supposed to be on the mound Saturday when Clemens steps into the batter's box for the first time since the beaning.

"I think they expect me to go out there and pitch a good game,'' Estes said Friday about his teammates. "That's it. Whatever happens after that happens. I just have to try to win the game.''

Estes was evasive about his approach to Clemens for good reason. Two years ago when he pitched for San Francisco, Estes talked about sending a message to Colorado's Tom Goodwin, who irked the Giants by stealing a base with a big lead.

Estes didn't hit Goodwin, but his high-and-tight pitch was enough to warrant a fine.

"The comments I made were dumb,'' he said.

No players from either side were making that mistake, even Piazza, who has the biggest beef of all with Clemens.

"I said my piece at the time. We'll see what happens when tomorrow gets here,'' he said.

The umpires said they won't issue a pre-emptive warning before Saturday's game, which pleases both sides. Although no warning is needed to eject a pitcher if an umpire thinks he drilled a batter on purpose.

"We're going to handle this situation like any other regular-season game,'' crew chief Mark Hirschbeck said. "We've been given a heads-up like we are any time there's bad blood between two teams.''

Estes, who said a warning would have tied his hands, is trying to keep his focus on the Yankees' dangerous hitters like Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano and Jason Giambi instead of Clemens.

"If I start concerning myself with how I'm going to face the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, I'm going to have problems with (one through eight),'' he said. "These guys have put up some big numbers and can hit the ball out of the ballpark.''

Roberto Alomar, a newcomer like Estes, said people shouldn't look for Estes to settle a score that should have been settled a long time ago.

"I don't think anyone will lose respect for Shawn if he doesn't hit him,'' Alomar said. "Shawn wasn't here when that happened. If you're going to take care of business, take care of it when it happens.''

Much has changed since the confrontations in 2000. First, Clemens threw a fastball off the front of Piazza's helmet, knocking the slugger to the ground with a concussion.

Then in Game 2 of the World Series, Piazza broke his bat on a foul ball and an excited Clemens threw the jagged barrel in Piazza's path, inexplicably claiming he thought it was the baseball at first.

There was a brief verbal confrontation, and the pitcher was fined $50,000.

Robin Ventura, the on-deck hitter for the Mets during both confrontations, plays with the Yankees now but remembers his anger at the time.

"When you see your best guy get hit in the head like that you back up your own guys and that's what we did,'' he said.

Mo Vaughn and John Valentin, Clemens' teammates from his time with Boston, are with the Mets and know that their former friend is now the enemy.

"I have on a different jersey than Roger Clemens,'' Vaughn said. "We have to take care of our own. We understand that. I don't feel awkward at all.''

The buildup to the game has annoyed both teams. The focus has been on Clemens coming to bat ever since Yankees manager Joe Torre said three weeks ago that he wouldn't juggle his rotation to avoid the confrontation like he did last year.

"It's unfortunate to me,'' Torre said. "I think it's been blown out of proportion. I've been a wimp for not pitching him here last year or people said he begged off of it. I'd just as soon get it over with.''

With all the focus on Clemens at the plate, there has been little attention paid to how he will pitch Piazza, who is 7-for-12 with three homers off Clemens.

"I'm going to try to hit him and hit him hard,'' Piazza said. "That's what I always do. Hopefully I won't break a bat or anything like that.''