Jose Vidro came back for Montreal and Al Leiter took the mound again for the New York Mets. Both stars professed themselves ready for opening day.

Vidro, out since March 1 with a sprained right shoulder, went 1-for-3 with an RBI as a split squad of Mets beat Montreal 5-3 Sunday in Jupiter, Fla.

Vidro gave the Expos a scare when he dove for Dickey Gonzalez’s RBI grounder in the third, hit the ground hard on his right shoulder and threw out the runner at first.

“It was a throw I would have rather not seen him make,” Montreal manager Frank Robinson said. “But Vidro, like most good players, plays on instinct and gives it his all, all the time.”

Vidro, a career .302 hitter, is happy to be back in the lineup. His goal is to play in all 162 games this season.

“When I landed on my shoulder and had no pain, I knew I was 100 percent,” he said. “I was able to swing the bat in the batting cage while my shoulder was recovering, so I wasn’t concerned about hitting.”

At Port St. Lucie, Fla., Leiter pitched four innings in his first game in 10 days as the Mets lost a split-squad game to Atlanta.

Leiter struggled in the first inning before settling down and throwing three shutout innings. Leiter pulled right hip flexor since his last start and hadn’t pitched in a game for 10 days.

“For me, the next two starts are a matter of me fine-tuning my cutter, feeling comfortable on the mound and be more precise with my pitches as opposed to arm strength,” Leiter said.

Leiter walked Rafael Furcal and then hit Ryan Langerhans to start the game. Julio Franco followed with a three-run homer. Leiter threw 59 pitches during his stint and then went to the bullpen to throw 15 more before leaving little doubt he’d be ready to begin the season.

Mo Vaughn and Mike Piazza homered for the Mets.

In Kissimmee, Fla., Tony Pena Jr. played for Atlanta against his father’s team, the Houston Astros.

“It’s very emotional for me,” said the elder Pena, who is a bench coach for Houston after a long catching career in the majors. “You see your kid growing up, and he grows up so fast. Then you see him next to these guys. Sometimes you feel like, ‘Am I that old?”‘

The younger Pena, a 20-year-old shortstop who played last season at Class-A Jamestown, singled and scored the tiebreaking run in the Braves’ 8-6 win in 11 innings.

“It’s good to have the opportunity to come over and play in front of him,” Tony Jr. said. “He’s never seen me play that much.”

Wilson Betemit went 4-of-5, including a two-run triple in the 11th inning for Atlanta.

Rockies evaluating catchers

Tucson, Ariz. All four of the Colorado Rockies’ contenders for starting catcher got playing time in split-squad games Sunday. Gary Bennett went 3-for-3 with a double and one RBI against the San Francisco Giants, raising his Cactus League average to .368. Carlos Hernandez added a two-run single in the eighth. Against Arizona in the other game, Tony Eusebio and Ben Petrick each went 0-for-2. Eusebio is batting .292, Petrick .318.