NEW YORK -- Jeff Nelson showed once again why he thinks he belongs on the All-Star team. Joe Torre doesn't care, as long as the reliever is in the Yankees bullpen.

	Nelson

Nelson was upset this week that Torre left him off the AL roster for Tuesday night's game at Atlanta. The 6-foot-8 setup man is 6-2 with a 1.74 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings.

Torre, who will manage the AL team, took four relievers, all of them closers -- Oakland's Jason Isringhausen, Boston's Derek Lowe, Detroit's Todd Jones and the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, who is 2-3 with 21 saves and a 2.95 ERA.

Nelson, tied for the team lead with 41 appearances, suggested that in the future he might not be so willing to pitch when he's not feeling 100 percent. Torre and general manager Brian Cashman were stung by those remarks.

But in the first game of Saturday's split doubleheader against the New York Mets, Nelson was ready. Torre summoned him in the seventh inning with a 3-2 lead and a runner on second base with two outs.

Nelson got Derek Bell to ground out, then pitched a perfect eighth, retiring Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura. The Yankees went on to win 4-2 at Shea Stadium.

"That certainly was an All-Star performance by Nelson," Torre said. "And it gives me a chance to use him twice more since he won't pitch on Tuesday."

Nelson did not pitch in the second game at Yankee Stadium, which his team also won 4-2. He said he didn't mind that his manager made light of his comments.

"That was for him, that was for the mistake I made in the paper," Nelson said. "Everybody in here knows I want the ball every time."