Lo Duca appealed the penalty and cannot be disciplined until after a hearing is held. He was in the starting lineup for tonight's game against St. Louis.

"Hopefully, I can get it down to one game," he said. "I expected a suspension. Maybe not two days."

Lo Duca said it was the first suspension of his career. He said he wasn't exactly sure how the appeal process worked, and wanted to play this weekend against Philadelphia.

"Obviously, I overreacted," he said. "I called my ex-wife. I hope my daughter wasn't watching."

Lo Duca was ejected in the sixth inning of the Mets' 1-0 victory over Oakland on Saturday night after a called strike made the count against him 0-2.

His eyes bulging, Lo Duca was restrained by Mets manager Willie Randolph. When Lo Duca walked to the dugout, he threw his helmet, bat and elbow guard toward first base. Once he reached the bench, Lo Duca tossed his shin guards into foul territory and his chest protector, which got hung up on the dugout railing.

"I didn't realize my eyes looked like that," he said.

Lo Duca said he's always gotten along with Hudson, going back to their days in the minors. Lo Duca said that when he saw Hudson the next day, he told the umpire, "My bad, I apologize."

Bob Watson, baseball's vice president for discipline, said Lo Duca was suspended for "inappropriate actions."

Backup Ramon Castro caught the rest of the game after Lo Duca was ejected. Randolph later said that reserve infielder Jose Valentin would have been the emergency catcher if Castro had to leave.