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WHAT IT MEANS: The Mets split a six-game road trip to Toronto and Pittsburgh with a 3-1 rubber-game victory against the Pirates on Wednesday afternoon along the shores of the Allegheny River.

Frank Francisco produced a 1-2-3 inning for a save for the second straight day.

HOW NICE: Coming off an outing in Toronto to open the road trip in which he matched a career high by allowing eight runs, Jon Niese took a scoreless effort into the sixth inning. He then allowed a leadoff double by Josh Harrison and one-out RBI single by Andrew McCutchen that pulled the Pirates within 3-1. Niese held the line there that frame, though, coaxing a 6-4-3 double play from Neil Walker.

Niese departed with two out and two runners aboard in the eighth after walking Gorkys Hernandez. Bobby Parnell entered to face McCutchen, and catcher Rob Johnson tried to catch Hernandez straying too far off first base. Johnson’s snap pickoff attempt was missed by first baseman Ike Davis, and an E-3 was charged as both runners advanced.

Parnell made it immaterial by striking out McCutchen on a 98 mph fastball to strand the two runners in scoring position and preserve a two-run lead.

Niese’s final line: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. It was his longest outing since also going 7 2/3 innings on Aug. 11, 2011 against the San Diego Padres.

PIRATE CASTAWAY: The Pirates declined a $3 million option on Ronny Cedeno last offseason and instead signed Clint Barmes to serve as their shortstop. Cedeno then settled for a $1.1 million contract and backup role with the Mets. He got a little payback against his former club this week. Cedeno went 5-for-10 during the three-game series while manning shortstop in place of soon-to-be-returning Ruben Tejada. Tejada (quadriceps) appeared in his first extended spring training game Tuesday.

MR. .400: David Wright briefly dipped under .400 after being retired in his first two at-bats Wednesday. Wright then delivered an RBI double against Charlie Morton in the fifth inning that staked the Mets to a 3-0 lead. But after striking out in his fourth AB to finish 1-for-4, Wright’s average ended the trip at .399.

It’s the first time Wright completed a day under .400 since May 14.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had preceded Wright’s fifth-inning at-bat with a sacrifice fly. The Mets had opened the scoring in the first inning on Lucas Duda’s RBI single.

IT’S A HIT: Davis, who entered the day mired in a 2-for-33 rut, singled in his first at-bat. He finished 1-for-4, striking out on a pitch in the dirt and well out of the strike zone in his final plate appearance.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Mets return to Citi Field for an 11-game homestand during which they face San Diego, Philadelphia and Carlos Beltran’s St. Louis Cardinals. Jeremy Hefner (0-1, 2.25 ERA), after two quality relief appearances, makes his first major league start in Thursday’s series opener against the Padres, opposite left-hander Eric Stults (0-0, 2.70). Hefner takes the slot formerly held by Miguel Batista, who landed on the DL on Sunday with a lower back or oblique strain.

PITTSBURGH -- Andres Torres was apologetic for his 1-for-33 slump, as Terry Collins started Kirk Nieuwenhuis in center field and Mike Baxter in left field and gave Torres a day off from the lineup Tuesday.

"To be honest, I haven't done what I'm supposed to do," said Torres, whose average has sagged to .189. "This game you have to make your job. You have to get it done. And I feel bad that I haven't performed like I wanted. But I'm here. I just have to find a way to get on base and get hits and things like that."

"A little bit of over-swinging, which can happen," Collins said about Torres' struggles. "He's done a good job of getting himself into some good counts. He's just not getting some results that he wants or that we need to have. ... He's all full of energy. Everything is max, max, max effort. So I just thought today we'll go with another route and give him a day off."

Asked if Torres was locked in to being a starter, the manager added: "Well, everything is going to be reevaluated as we go. But we know how we play when he gets on base. It's quite obvious, when he gets on, we score, and we play very good. He's played very good center field. But right now he's mired in a real tough slump, so I just thought I'd get somebody else in there to see if we can get this thing kick-started a little bit."

Baxter took over in Torres' leadoff spot. The reason?

"He's getting on base," Collins said. "That's the spot, if you get on, we've got a chance to score some runs. So I thought I'd lead him off."

As for Monday night's costly faux pas in which Baxter and Nieuwenhuis converged on a fly ball and it dropped, Collins added: "You've got to get past it. That's what you have to do at this level. You can't let it linger. You've got to go out and learn from your mistakes. I want them both in the lineup. It wasn't just because of last night. I just think right now, with Andres struggling the way he's struggling, that this is our best chance to score."

PITTSBURGH -- Mike Baxter and Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a communications gaffe on an eighth-inning fly ball, resulting in a three-base error, and Clint Barmes followed with a game-deciding sacrifice fly as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Mets, 5-4, Monday at PNC Park.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was Pittsburgh's biggest come-from-behind victory since June 1, 2009, also against the Mets -- when a five-run lead for the Amazin's turned into an 8-5 loss that included five straight batters reaching against J.J. Putz in a five-run eighth. Putz made only one more appearance as a Met, also in that series, before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery.

The Pirates' string of 160 straight games trailing by four-plus runs without a comeback victory was the second-longest in MLB history, according to Elias. Only the the Washington Senators, who had 178 straight losses when they trailed by four-plus runs from 1906 to 1910, had a longer drought.

Tuesday's news reports:

• Johan Santana could not hold a four-run lead. He surrendered a game-tying two-run homer to No. 8 hitter Michael McKenry in the seventh. His record stands at 1-2 after nine starts this season.

• Read game recaps in the Post, Record, Star-Ledger, Newsday, Times and Daily News.

• Josh Thole and Jason Bay have headed to Florida to ramp up activity, while Ruben Tejada could be the first of trio to return from the disabled list -- as soon as next weekend. Thole, cleared for baseball activities two weeks after suffering a concussion, is aiming to appear in a minor league game for the first time May 28. Tejada (quadriceps) has been running in Port St. Lucie. He could be in a minor league rehab game as soon as Wednesday. Bay (fractured rib) is due to start taking batting practice from coaches that day, and soon thereafter may advance to minor league action, initially as a DH. Read more in the Star-Ledger.

• Andres Torres is 1-for-his-last-29. Terry Collins plans to sit him Tuesday and start Nieuwenhuis in center, with Baxter in left field.

• Ike Davis sat against another left-hander, Erik Bedard, but entered Monday for defense in the sixth inning and eventually struck out in both of his ensuing at-bats. Davis is now hitting .161. A demotion may be looming, potentially coinciding with the return of a player from the DL. Collins met with Davis in the visiting manager's office at PNC Park before Monday's game. Read more in the Journal, Post, Newsday, Times and Daily News.

• Vinny Rottino rejoined the Mets on Monday from Triple-A Buffalo and made his first major league start at first base. Chris Schwinden was optioned back to the Bisons. With Miguel Batista landing on the DL, Jeremy Hefner has been confirmed as Thursday's starter against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field.

• Terry Collins expressed appreciation for umpire Brian Knight acknowledging missing Saturday night's call, when Baxter was ruled out at second base in Toronto.

• Michael Salfino in the Journal tries to reconcile the Mets' winning record with their run differential. He notes a few lopsided losses skew the results somewhat, but counters that the Mets have been outslugged with homers by a wide margin. Writes Salfino:

In the standings, they look like a contender. Entering Monday, they were a surprising 22-19. But on the stat sheet -- and we're not talking doctorate-level statistics here -- they look overmatched. They've been outscored by 31 runs, the fifth-worst mark in baseball. Even the 15-25 Colorado Rockies (minus-27) have been better. The Mets are on pace to finish 87-75 while being outscored by 122 runs. This would be a rather historic achievement: All-time, the worst run differential by a winning team belonged to the 1905 Detroit Tigers (minus-90), who went 79-74. The Mets' current record is about five games better than what's expected from a team with that poor of a run differential, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

• Salfino also notes in the Journal that the Mets bullpen has protected leads for R.A. Dickey remarkably well -- in 21 of 22 games in which the knuckleballer has left in a position to win during his Mets career. According to the article, the bullpen has failed to hold 14 of 50 potential wins for Santana during his Mets career.

• Pitching coach Dan Warthen wants Jon Niese to prepare more for unfamiliar opponents, Mike Puma writes in the Post. "He’s had a couple of poor games against teams he doesn’t know very well,” Warthen told Puma. “A couple of us talked to him the other day and told him he could do a little bit better with the studying of hitters.”

TRIVIA: Who holds the record for career runs scored in a Mets uniform?

Monday's answer: The yellow bridge spanning the Allegheny River adjacent to PNC Park is named for the late Roberto Clemente.

PITTSBURGH -- Ike Davis’ funk gets plenty of attention, but Andres Torres is in quite a rut as well.

Torres went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts Monday night, including leaving the go-ahead run at third base in the top of the eighth. A half-inning later, a costly dropped ball in left-center by Kirk Nieuwenhuis lifted the Pirates to a 5-4 victory.

Torres is 1-for-his-last-29 as his average has tumbled to .189.

Terry Collins said Torres will sit Tuesday, with Nieuwenhuis starting in center field and Mike Baxter in left field.

As for how he managed the late innings, Collins said that with so many players having issues at the plate, he cannot pinch hit for everybody.

With one out in the eighth and the potential go-ahead run at third base, Collins allowed Mike Nickeas to hit. He struck out.

Baxter then pinch-hit in the pitcher’s slot and was intentionally walked. Torres made the final out, with Daniel Murphy being held back for a ninth-inning pinch-hitting assignment off the bench.

Asked why he did not use Murphy and Baxter for, say, Nickeas and the pitcher, Collins said about the scenario: “I’m burning them all in the eighth inning in a tie game. You look up, Murph hits for Nickeas, Baxter hits in the ninth hole, you don’t score, you’re out of players in a tie game.”

Collins had pulled Scott Hairston from the game in the bottom of the sixth when he wanted to upgrade his defense at first base with Johan Santana trying to protect a 4-2 lead. Vinny Rottino started the game at first base, but moved to left field when Hairston was removed so Davis could take over at first.

Davis, incidentally, struck out in both plate appearances after being inserted.

PITTSBURGH -- Left fielder Mike Baxter never heard center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis calling for the ball.

Nieuwenhuis never heard Baxter, either.

The result: Neil Walker’s eighth-inning shot to left-center bounced off Nieuwenhuis’ glove as he bumped Baxter, resulting in a three-base error. Walker then scored the game-deciding run in Pittsburgh’s 5-4 victory against the Mets on Clint Barmes’ sacrifice fly.

“I didn’t hear it,” Baxter said about Nieuwenhuis’ call for the ball. “I should have taken a look. It’s 100 percent my fault. That’s a fundamental of baseball. Kirk has the right of way on that ball. I’ve got to get out of his way on that ball. That one hurts.

“I was calling for it. But it’s irrelevant, to be honest with you. As ‘off’ (corner) outfielders, your job is to know where he’s at and, if he’s going to make a play on it, you get out of the way. You’ve got to take a look. In hindsight, that’s the right way to play it -- take a look, see where he’s at. We practice taking our eye off the ball on routes anyway. You kind of give a look and see if he has a bead on it. If he does, just get out of the way so that doesn’t happen.”

Terry Collins put the onus on both players -- Baxter for not deferring, and Nieuwenhuis for dropping the ball. Collins had used both players as pinch hitters in the top of the eighth and kept them in the game in the outfield.

Collins spoke with Baxter once he returned to the dugout after the half-inning.

“I just wanted to make sure that we get it straight so it doesn’t happen again, that’s all,” Collins said. “Make sure the communication is better than it was. That’s all. It’s one of the things that really happens at the major league level in a situation where you’re out there with a lot of noise. Mike’s calling it. Kirk’s calling it. I just told Bax, ‘You’ve got to somehow realize the center fielder is coming.’ But he said, ‘I was calling it, calling it, calling it. I thought he was too far away.’ Anyway, it didn’t matter. We’ve got to catch the baseball.”

Nieuwenhuis also blamed himself.

“I should have looked over at him, took a peek, saw where he was at,” Nieuwenhuis said. “That’s my fault.”

As for who was calling for the ball, Nieuwenhuis said it actually was pretty loud at PNC Park as the ball was in the air and they converged, making it difficult to hear.

“Neither one of us heard each other,” Nieuwenhuis said. “It was pretty loud out there in the outfield by the stands a little bit. But it’s part of the game. You’ve got to deal with it. It’s not an excuse. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to make that play. It’s a routine play.”

WHAT IT MEANS: Johan Santana could not protect a four-run lead and the Mets dropped the ball in the eighth inning -- literally -- en route to 5-4 loss against Pittsburgh in Monday’s series opener.

Santana served up a game-tying two-run homer to No. 8 hitter Michael McKenry in seventh inning.

In the eighth, after each pinch-hitting in the top half, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Mike Baxter headed to the outfield. They miscommunicated on Neil Walker’s leadoff fly ball to left-center and Nieuwenhuis dropped it for a three-base error. Walker then scored the decisive run on a sacrifice fly by Clint Barmes against Jon Rauch narrowly ahead of a throw from right fielder Lucas Duda.

It was the second time this season Nieuwenhuis had a high-profile drop while manning center field. Against the Giants on April 21, Nieuwenhuis overran a ball to prolong the game, although the Mets salvaged that one, 5-4, on San Francisco miscues.

NOT WRIGHT: David Wright went 2-for-4 with a walk and RBI to lift his average to .415, but he also committed his second and third errors this season.

Wright’s RBI single had lifted the Mets to a 4-0 lead against Pirates starter Erik Bedard.

Neither error proved costly. With the bases loaded in the fourth inning shortly after Wright’s throwing miscue to first base, Santana coaxed a 6-4-3 DP to preserve a two-run lead. In the seventh, after Santana served up the game-tying two-run homer and a walk, Wright misfielded a grounder that advanced the potential go-ahead run into scoring position. But Bobby Parnell struck out Andrew McCutchen and Tim Byrdak fanned Pedro Alvarez to keep the score tied.

LEADING MAN? Andres Torres went 0-for-4 with a walk. He twice struck out and also popped out on a bunt. Torres is now hitless in 14 at-bats and 2-for-38 in his last 11 games. His eighth-inning fielder’s choice stranded the go-ahead run at third in the eighth.

OUT: Scott Hairston was pulled for the bottom of the sixth inning, with Vinny Rottino moving from first base to left field and Ike Davis entering the game.

It was not immediately known if that was a strategic move or Hairston needed to be removed.

Davis and Lucas Duda consecutively were retired in the top of the seventh inning with two runners aboard while facing lefty reliever Tony Watson as the Mets failed to build on a 4-2 lead at the time.

AHOY: Ronny Cedeno returned to Pittsburgh, where he had been the starting shortstop last season and hit .249. He went 2-for-4.

WHAT’S NEXT: R.A. Dickey (5-1, 3.76 ERA) opposes right-hander James McDonald (3-2, 2.68) on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

The Mets salvaged the finale of their interleague series in Toronto, holding on for a 6-5 win when former Blue Jays closer Frank Francisco struck out three straight batters in the ninth after allowing a leadoff walk to Yunel Escobar, then single by Jose Bautista through the barren right side of the infield.

Monday's news reports:

• Miguel Batista landed on the DL on Sunday morning with a strained oblique or lower-back muscle. Jeremy Hefner is likely to start Thursday's game against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field in that rotation slot. Chris Schwinden was promoted for Sunday's game as a hedge against Dillon Gee having a short outing, but was not needed. The Mets plan to make another roster move before Monday's series opener in Pittsburgh to add a position player. Vinny Rottino -- who had a three-homer game for Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday -- would appear a logical choice to return to the major league roster. Schwinden is the easiest to return to Buffalo. Manny Acosta would be an alternative, but seemingly less likely choice to get dismissed to free the roster spot.

• Terry Collins for the first time Sunday morning allowed for the possibility of Ike Davis getting sent to the minors if his performance does not show improvement on this trip. Despite a seeming roster crunch looming with Ruben Tejada slated to begin rehab games as soon as today and Jason Bay due to take batting practice in Pittsburgh for the first time this afternoon, there are demotion candidates. Davis is one. And Kirk Nieuwenhuis' production considerably has slowed since the rookie's torrid start.

The added benefit of Nieuwenhuis returning to the minors is it could delay his free agency a year. If Nieuwenhuis were to stay at the major league level continuously, he would be eligible for free agency after his sixth season, during the 2017-18 offseason. If he logs a total of 20 days in the minors this year, he would not get credit for a full major league season in 2012 and would be delayed in free agency at least until the following winter -- 2018-19. Read more in the Daily News, Post and Newsday.

• Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger writes about Davis' issues:

- He’s hitting too many grounders (50 percent of his balls in play before Sunday, according to FanGraphs.com). In the first inning, Davis hacked at a low, 91-mph sinker and tapped the ball back to Alvarez. With the bases loaded in the fifth, he rolled a fastball into what should have been a double play, except second baseman Kelly Johnson fumbled the exchange.

- His luck has been poor. In the fourth inning, Davis smashed a fastball toward the opposite field -- right into the glove of third baseman Yan Gomes. Entering Sunday's game, Davis was hitting line drives 17.4 percent of the time, or slightly better than 2011’s 17 percent mark. Except his batting average on balls in play was a miniscule .184, nearly 200 points below his career average. “He just needs those [line drives] to fall,” hitting coach Dave Hudgens said.

- He’s not drawing walks. Davis saw exactly three pitches in his first three at-bats Sunday.

• Regarding Nieuwenhuis, Barbara Barker writes in Newsday:

A week ago, he led all major-league rookies with a .302 batting average and was second with 35 hits. He went 1-for-3 with an RBI double and two walks in the Mets' 6-5 win Sunday and is now batting .277 with 38 hits, seven doubles, two home runs, 13 RBIs and 16 walks. "This kid doesn't deserve to go back to Triple-A with the way he's swung the bat so far," Buffalo manager Wally Backman said. "But he needs to play. I think for his development, he needs to play every day." Nieuwenhuis says he can't worry about what the future holds, other than to try to perform his best each day he plays. "It's been pretty cool playing up here with the guys," he said, "but whatever happens, happens. I don't make those decisions. I just have to take one day at a time and focus."

• David Wright returned from a day off Saturday and delivered a two-run double in the first inning as part of a 2-for-4 series finale that raised his average to .412. Wright, still sick, passed Jose Reyes for second on the franchise's all-time hit list with 1,302. He needs 116 more hits to match Mets record-holder Ed Kranepool.

• Mike Baxter had a career-high three hits Sunday while starting for the second straight game with the Mets using an extra position player in their lineup in the AL ballpark. Collins pledged to find Baxter playing time in Pittsburgh, although the manager said not at first base yet, and not on Monday against Pirates left-hander Erik Bedard. Read more in the Star-Ledger.

• Gee had a new look and better results. Read more in the Post.

• Read game recaps in the Record, Times, Daily News, Journal, Newsday and Post.

• Collins reiterated Jenrry Mejia is far more likely to help the Mets as a reliever at the major league level in 2012. Read more in Newsday.

• Tim Kurkjian catches up with hot-hitting ex-Met Carlos Beltran at ESPN.com. Kurkjian notes Beltran is two steals shy of 300 swipes and 300 homers in his career, a club that is currently limited to Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Andre Dawson, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley. Writes Kurkjian:

If it weren't for Matt Kemp, Beltran, 35, would be the most valuable player in the National League six weeks into the season. If it weren't for the remarkable Josh Hamilton, May would have been all about Beltran. Not only has he replaced the 2011 production of Albert Pujols in the Cardinals' lineup, he has greatly exceeded it while helping take St. Louis to the front of the National League Central, all while dazzling his new teammates. "When I ran out on the field with him the first time in spring training,'' said Cardinals third baseman David Freese, "I knew he was the most complete player I'd ever played with.''

Lance Berkman, who also was Beltran's teammate during that prolific 2004 postseason with Houston that set up Beltran's seven-year, $119 million contract with the Mets told Kurkjian: "It's funny. An elite player has some things happen to him for three or four years, like injuries, then he becomes an elite player again, and people ask, 'What's going on here?' Just look at the back of his baseball card. He is as complete a player as I've ever played with. He does everything well, and he looks good doing it. When you look at what a player is supposed to do, he's about as good as it gets.''

• Corey Wimberly stole home for Buffalo's lone run in a 4-1 loss to Indianapolis on Sunday. It was the second time a Mets farmhand has swiped home this season. Wimberly had a pure steal of the plate, while Binghamton's Josh Rodriguez stole home on April 21 as part of a double-steal. Read Sunday's full minor league recap here.

• Forty-thousand Orthodox Jews packed Citi Field on Sunday to decry the internet. Read more in the Daily News.

• Michael Howard Saul in the Journal revealed that Citi Field, now in its fourth season, still does not have all its full permits from the city in order. Mayor Michael Bloomberg at last week's All-Star Game press conference dismissed the issue as procedural and insignificant and insisted the stadium was safe. Wrote Saul, alluding to the City Hall announcement about next season's Mid-Summer Classic:

Unmentioned was the embarrassing fact that the three-year-old stadium in Queens still hasn’t received a certificate of occupancy from the city. The stadium has a temporary certificate, which means it is “safe and legal to occupy,” said Tony Sclafani, a spokesman for the Department of Buildings, in an email.

TRIVIA: For which former Pirate Pirate is the yellow bridge spanning the Allegheny River adjacent to PNC Park named?

Sunday's answer: Jason Bay was the last Pirate to have a multi-homer game against the Mets. At Shea Stadium on July 24, 2007, Bay went deep off John Maine and Guillermo Mota.

Brandon Morrow tossed a three-hit shutout and the Mets lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-0, Saturday at Rogers Centre. Dillon Gee starts Sunday's 1:07 p.m. game, trying to prevent the Amazin's from getting swept north of the border.

Regarding the Mets' offense, Terry Collins said, the Mets can't be patient to a fault in driving up pitch counts.

"We’ve got to start grinding out some at-bats," Collins said. "It goes back to exactly what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, and that's: It’s not about taking pitches. It’s about being patient, and when you get the pitch you want, hit it. Brandon was in the strike zone today. He was making good pitches early in the count. And we're down early, 0-1, 0-2. I don’t want these guys to think they've got to go up there and just take the good pitches they can hit."

Sunday's news reports:

• Miguel Batista was forced to leave Saturday's game after tossing two scoreless innings because of a pulled muscle in his lower back. Jeremy Hefner, promoted from Triple-A Buffalo, entered in relief and limited the Jays to two runs in five innings but was charged with the loss. Chris Schwinden will arrive Sunday in Toronto as a taxi-squad member, and presumably has a good chance of being activated as a hedge against Gee having a short outing, with Batista landing on the DL.

Jordany Valdespin had been demoted before Saturday's game to make room for Hefner. Valdespin will play second base with the Bisons. The Mets will promote a position player before Monday's game in Pittsburgh, Collins indicated. Collins said Hefner would start in Batista's place Thursday at Citi Field if the 41-year-old right-hander lands on the DL. Read more in Newsday, the Record, Star-Ledger and Post.

• Mike Baxter was ruled out at second base in the ninth inning on an apparent blown call. Had Baxter been credited with a double, the Mets would have had two runners in scoring position with one out in the ninth, trailing by two runs. Read more in the Post.

• Read game recaps in the Post, Times, Star-Ledger, Newsday, Record and Daily News.

• There's no indication Ike Davis is in imminent danger of a demotion. But the number of notable names getting demoted is, well, notable. First, the Braves sent Jair Jurrjens to Triple-A Gwinnett. First baseman Adam Lind is reportedly on waivers for the purpose of being removed from the 40-man roster and demoted by the Blue Jays. And, now, first baseman Gaby Sanchez, who was hitting .197 with one homer with Miami, has been demoted too. “We don’t think he’s a .190 hitter,” Marlins GM Michael Hill told the Miami Herald about Sanchez, an All-Star last season. “We think he’s better than he’s showing here. We think he’s pressing. We want to take some of the pressure off him, get him down to Triple-A, and get him right.” Davis is hitting .160 after going 0-for-3 Saturday in Toronto.

• Pedro Beato began an official rehab assignment Saturday night with Class A St. Lucie, tossing two scoreless innings. He is on the 60-day DL because of a shoulder issue that arose during spring training. Jenrry Mejia, meanwhile, allowed one run on six hits while striking out three and walking none in three innings for Double-A Binghamton. He threw only 48 pitches in his first Double-A start since Tommy John surgery, but Sandy Alderson said that roughly was the prescribed length. Mejia had higher pitch counts in two previous starts for St. Lucie. Also Saturday, Vinny Rottino had three homers for Triple-A Buffalo. Read the Saturday's full minor league recap here.

• David Wright was sicker Saturday than the previous day and was unavailable. Still, he already has informed Collins he wants to play Sunday. Read more in the Daily News.

• Anthony McCarron pens a feature in the Daily News celebrating Wright's leadership by example. Regarding Wright bickering with Collins in the dugout because he wanted to remain in Tuesday's game against Milwaukee to get drilled as payback for D.J. Carrasco hitting Ryan Braun, Ron Darling said: “I think there were probably people on the bench who didn’t understand what the hullabaloo was about at all and were taught a valuable lesson. 'What? Get hit? Who wants to get hit?’ He basically said, 'I know how the game is played and I know what we have to do in certain situations and I’m willing to do that.' David is one of those rare current players who could’ve played in any generation. There is a real courage in the way he plays the game. Guy played three weeks with a back that was broken last year, hits a homer with a broken finger because he knows his team needs him. I watch him play, and it makes me proud that I was part of the fraternity.”

• Collins believes Ruben Tejada (quadriceps) could be in a minor league rehab game as soon as Monday. Jason Bay (fractured rib) may take batting practice that day in Pittsburgh. Chris Young, who took a brief break with his wife due to give birth, is expected to resume his comeback with Class A St. Lucie on Friday. It will be Young's third minor league start with the Florida State League club since May 16, 2011 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his right shoulder.

• David Lennon in Newsday reviews the early impact of the wall changes at Citi Field. He notes Gee's amusement at hearing during the trip to Miami's new ballpark about Marlins players already expressing discontent with the cavernous dimensions. As a result of the Citi Field changes, there have been 10 additional homers this season that would have remained in play under the old configuration -- six by opponents, four by the Mets (Kirk Nieuwenhuis 2, Lucas Duda, Wright). "I enjoy it," Wright told Lennon. "Obviously, it's smaller, so I enjoy that. But it's tough, I guess, to describe the effect that it has because it's still relatively early. A lot of how the ball carries has to do with the weather, and the weather has been chilly, rainy and windy."

Still, Citi Field has not become a homer haven. Writes Lennon:

Through the first 20 home games, there have been 26 home runs hit at Citi Field, and that frequency of 1.3 per game is tied (with Wrigley Field) for 13th-best in the National League . Only AT&T Park (0.84), PETCO Park (0.96) and Marlins Park (1.24) had produced fewer. Before Citi's changes are deemed inconsequential, however, consider this: According to ESPN Home Run Tracker, 10 home runs needed the new dimensions to clear the walls, and if there were only 16 home runs to this point, that drops the average rate to a minuscule 0.80 -- the lowest in either league. "It's only a small sample size," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. "But at the same time, that's still a dramatic impact."

Jeff Wilpon told Lennon: "It doesn't look like a sore thumb sticking out, in the terms of the changes that we made. I think it's been very successful in that sense. We knew it wouldn't make a huge difference -- we wanted it to be a moderate difference. ... I wish we were hitting more home runs, either with the benefit of the changes or without the benefits."

• Tyler Kepner in the Times pays homage to Chipper Jones, who is due to retire at season's end. Writes Kepner:

In Chicago, the Cubs gave him a Braves flag that flew above the scoreboard at Wrigley Field. In Denver, the Rockies gave him a camera to mount on his hunting bow. The Houston Astros gave him a cowboy hat, and the St. Louis Cardinals presented a jersey signed by Stan Musial. “It was really cool in St. Louis when he came up to bat,” Braves reliever Craig Kimbrel said. “They kind of stopped the game. They were already losing in the first inning, but he came up to bat and got a standing ovation.”

Jones told Kepner about last year's Braves historic collapse relative to the team's current success (25-16, first place): "It’s really gratifying because the guys went home in the offseason and used what happened in September as a motivational tool. I’ve said this all along: If we end up winning an Eastern Division championship or a National League championship or a World Series in the next couple of years, I guarantee you all these players will look back at September and say we learned a lot.”

• Critic Bob Raissman in the Daily News praises Collins as a straight shooter. Writes Raissman:

While The Prince of Darkness, John Tortorella, continues perfecting his mummified style, Terry Collins is out in Queens shedding light. The Mets manager will never be cast as Mr. Sunshine. He illuminates by speaking the truth. That’s why the media rarely has a discouraging word about him. Of all the head mouths in town, Collins is the straightest shooter.

• Columnist Jeff Bradley in the Star-Ledger compares the 1993 Yankees to the 2012 Mets in terms of success despite low expectations. Warning: extensive Paul O'Neill quoting.

TRIVIA: Who was the last Pittsburgh Pirate to have a multi-homer game against the Mets?

Saturday's answer: Mike Jacobs was traded to Toronto for a player to be named or cash in the last swap between the Mets and Jays, on July 30, 2010.

David Wright jawed with his manager, Terry Collins, in the dugout, but insisted afterward he was upset in the heat of the moment with the situation, not at his manager. The Mets ultimately lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-0, Tuesday at soggy Citi Field. Collins pulled Wright in the bottom of the seventh along with Daniel Murphy, trying to protect the third baseman from getting drilled a half-inning after D.J. Carrasco served up a homer to Rickie Weeks, then plunked Ryan Braun with the next pitch. Wright wanted to stand in the batter's box to take the expected retaliatory blow and end the drama.

"At this level, somebody is going to get hit," Collins said about retaliation, to which the Mets skipper felt the Brewers were entitled. "And it wasn't going to be David Wright tonight. I can't control what's going to happen down the road. He's not going to get hurt in this game, in this situation, tonight."

Please join me for a Mets chat at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday here.

Wednesday's news reports:

• Before the T.C.-Wright dugout spectacle, Dillon Gee had let down the Mets. Gee served up a pair of homers to Travis Ishikawa and was charged with seven runs in 5 1/3 innings. "Mistakes that he makes are in the middle of the plate," Collins said. "I mean, when I took him out of the game, Nicky [catcher Mike Nickeas] said every mistake he made tonight they drilled."

Said Gee: "I don't know. I'm at a loss for words today. I felt good out there. I felt like I made a lot of good pitches. In my mind, I only made a couple of mistakes."

Meanwhile, Murphy extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games before departing the game.

Read game recaps in the Record, Times, Post, Newsday, Star-Ledger, Daily News and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

• Columnist Mike Vaccaro in the Post summarizes the Wright-Collins argument this way:

Whether [the hit by pitch] was intentional or not isn’t important. Neither is the transaction of removing Wright from the game. This was: Both Collins and Wright care enough about this team and this season as it approaches the quarter pole that they were willing to fill the dugout with noise and rancor, even for a lost cause. They are a fine match, a manager who cares and a player who cares even more.

Read my take here. Columnist Tim Smith in the Daily News also opines on the topic.

• Mayor Michael Bloomberg, MLB commissioner Bud Selig and Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon will participate in a ceremony at City Hall during which the 2013 All-Star Game officially will be awarded to Citi Field. The long-planned event was delayed in being announced for months as MLB worked out contracts with the Javits Convention Center for a fan fest as well as logistics such as NYPD staffing costs for a midtown parade of All-Stars and Central Park concert. You can watch the official announcement live at 11:30 a.m. on the city's web site here. Read more in Newsday, the Times, Post, Daily News and Star-Ledger.

• Collins told Anthony McCarron in the Daily News that Jason Bay "absolutely" will get his left-field job back when he returns from the DL after dealing with a fractured rib. Collins acknowledged the challenge will be finding playing time for Kirk Nieuwenhuis as well, but the manager will make it work. “He didn’t come here to be an extra player," Collins told McCarron about Bay. Nieuwenhuis went 0-for-3 Tuesday. He is hitting .294 with two homers, 12 RBIs, 14 walks and 39 strikeouts in 119 at-bats.

• Josh Thole was examined Tuesday at Citi Field and expected to imminently gain clearance to begin athletic activities. The catcher said he should learn the results of a concussion test Wednesday. Thole, who suffered what may be the fourth concussion of his professional career nine days ago in a plate collision with Ty Wigginton, said his headaches ended Friday. Read more in the Star-Ledger, Record, Daily News and Newsday.

• Jenrry Mejia and Chris Young are slated to move to Triple-A Buffalo to continue their returns from surgeries that both were performed on May 16, 2011. Mejia soon should be exposed to relief work to gauge his ability to contribute at the major league level in that capacity, an organization source told ESPNNewYork.com. Young was due to pitch for Class A St. Lucie on Tuesday night, but the game was rained out. He presumably will pitch Wednesday morning for the Florida State League club before moving to Triple-A.

• A special screening of the Andres Torres-centered documentary "Gigante," about the center fielder's battle with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, will be held at NYU School of Medicine (550 First Ave.) on May 31 at 7 p.m. The free event is open to the public, but preregistration is mandatory at yungogigante.eventbrite.com.

• Wright was noncommittal on his receptiveness to discussing a contract in-season if the Mets approached his representatives.

• Brian Costa in the Journal profiles sudden pinch-hitter-extraordinaire/local product Mike Baxter. Baxter is hitting .471 (8-for-17) with five RBIs as a pinch hitter this season, including a sixth-inning double Tuesday. The contribution also includes a go-ahead two-run double in the ninth inning Friday at Marlins Park.

Plenty of players have found success in pinch-hit roles, but they tend to be veterans who were starters at one point. Baxter, 27, entered Tuesday with just 58 games of major-league experience and just 10 career starts. "Mike is becoming really good at it in a short window," said Mets third-base coach Tim Teufel, who had 192 pinch-hit appearances during his 11-year major-league career. "Usually for a young player, it takes time. He's taken to the role. He's found a way." The Mets' depth was a perceived weakness going into the season. But despite several injuries, they entered Tuesday with a 20-15 record, thanks in part to some unexpected contributions from players at the fringes of the roster. Players like Baxter.

• Michael Salfino in the Journal looks at the Mets' patience at the plate under hitting coach Dave Hudgens. Among the relevant stats: Through Monday, the Mets had seen the most pitches per plate appearance in MLB (3.98), according to Stats LLC, better than runner-up Oakland (3.97) and No. 3 Arizona (3.94). Writes Salfino:

The epitome of the Mets desire to work counts as much as possible, though, is their place as the only team in baseball yet to swing at a 3-0 pitch (70 opportunities). That's widely regarded as the optimal hitter's count. But the Mets clearly don't want to help pitchers work their way out of trouble. New York's patient approach seems to be organization-wide. A spate of injuries have seen four opening day starters head to the disabled list, but replacements Justin Turner (4.22 pitches per plate appearance), Mike Baxter (4.23) and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (4.22) have actually improved the Mets average.

• Baseball America projects the Mets taking Louisiana high school shortstop Gavin Cecchini with the 12th overall pick in the draft next month. The magazine also says the Mets have been "strongly linked" to Texas high school outfielder Courtney Hawkins and Texas A&M right-hander Michael Wacha.

• Brandon Brown had three RBIs and Dustin Lawley homered as Savannah held on for a 4-3 win at Charleston. Read Tuesday's full minor league recap here.

• Collins is not a fan of prescribed roles in the bullpen, but the manager said pregame Tuesday that he needs to accept it as part of the evolution of the game. “Guys are here to do certain jobs,” Collins said. “That’s what they’re paid for. That’s what they prepare for. I mean, you have pitchers in the game today who don’t even go to the bullpen until the sixth inning. They’re not even out there. They’re doing stuff in the clubhouse. They’re stretching. They’re getting rubdowns. That’s the way it is and you have to adjust. I don’t have to like it, but I have to accept it.” Writes columnist Mark Bradley in the Star-Ledger:

No one could have blamed Collins if he took a match and some gasoline to his bullpen roles after Francisco blew the lead twice last weekend in Miami, which was potentially damaging to the psyche of his entire team. And when Francisco got into trouble in the ninth inning on Monday, and the fans were letting him hear it, you wondered, was Collins willing to let another one get away? “The one thing I don’t want to do is turn our bullpen inside out because we have a couple of blown saves,” Collins said. “Everybody has blown saves. But if you start changing everybody’s roles, then all of the sudden it’s very uncomfortable for some guys.” And then Collins repeated, “That’s something I’ve come to accept.”

• Johan Santana and Chris Capuano appear on columnist Bob Klapisch's list of 10 early season MLB surprises in the Record. Writes Klapisch on Santana:

You don’t dominate hitters with an 88-mph fastball without brains and guts, both of which are still Santana’s most precious currencies. His arm has been rebuilt by surgeons, who couldn’t restore the left-hander’s 94-mph heater of his prime. Still, Santana is so good, he’s averaging more than a strikeout an inning. It’s hard to believe Santana was on the DL for the entire 2011 season. Put it this way: The 2.92 ERA isn’t just surprising, it’s magic.

• SNY will televise its "Yearbook" show for the 1962 season for the first time on Thursday at 8 p.m., Ken Belson writes in the Times. Writes Belson:

To sports fans, the show, which is called “1962 Yearbook,” is a wonderful example of how sports was covered a half-century ago, complete with fawning announcers, eager players and a lack of whiz-bang technology that predominates on sports networks these days. “They were trying to generate interest and enthusiasm among the fans,” said Gary Morgenstern, senior vice president for programming at SNY, said of the show and others that would follow. “They weren’t terribly successful, so it was about getting people to fall in love with the team.” The tapes were discovered in 2008, when the Mets were cleaning out Shea Stadium and moving to Citi Field. The video was not meant to be shown on television. Rather, it was to be used by the team’s sales staff to drum up ticket sales in the off-season.

• Miguel Batista remains on target for his next start, despite dealing with a groin issue while tossing seven scoreless innings Monday. He is due to pitch at Toronto on Saturday.

• Mets players already were wearing hockey jerseys in the clubhouse Tuesday, in preparation for a dress-up en route to Toronto after Thursday's homestand finale. Mike Kerwick in the Record spotted R.A. Dickey in a Predators jersey (he lives in Nashville), the Whitestone native Baxter wearing a Rangers jersey, and Nieuwenhuis -- a Denver-area product -- wearing an Avalanche jersey.

TRIVIA: Who hit the homers off Braden Looper to spoil Pedro Martinez's Mets debut in Cincinnati on Opening Day in 2005?

Monday's answer: Gee attended the University of Texas-Arlington.

We’re 35 games into the season and there are all sorts of ways by which we could evaluate how the Mets offense and pitching are faring.

But what about their defense?

Let’s take a closer look at the Mets from that perspective, using both some basic statistics, and some advanced work from Baseball Info Solutions (BIS), a company that charts games for major league teams and media.

BIS, a company based just outside Allentown, Pa., tracks every play of every game in multiple ways.

It compiles data for a stat known as Defensive Runs Saved, which measures a fielder’s ability to turn batted balls into outs and succeed at other skills pertinent to his position (such as having a deterrent throwing arm, turning double plays, or successfully defending bunts).

It also has a group of video scouts who tag plays into categories – about 30 categories of Good Fielding Plays (which they call GFPs) and 50 categories of Defensive Misplays & Errors (DM & E).

Thirty five games is not meant to be a predictive sample, but it does allow us enough to make a basic assessment of what has happened.

The Mets Have Some Imperfections
The Mets may have overachieved on the mound and at the plate to get to 20-15, but they’ve underachieved in the field.

The Mets rank second-worst in the majors in Defensive Runs Saved this season with their defense viewed as having cost the team 23 runs.

The primary reason for that is that they rank third-worst in Defensive Efficency, a stat tracked by Baseball Prospectus, that shows how often the defense turns batted balls into outs. The Mets have done so on 69 percent of batted balls against them.

An average team will have a defensive efficiency of 71 to 72 percent. The difference comes out to about one play per game. Over a full season, that adds up.

In 2010 and 2011, 20 of the 27 teams to finish with winning records finished in the Top 15 in defensive efficiency. The teams that finished in the bottom five averaged 70 wins.

The Mets have two issues that are likely going to force their pitchers to get extra outs this season, both on the right side of the diamond.

Lucas Duda is having a very difficult time in right field and the BIS video trackers have not been kind.

Duda has been credited with just one GFP and, after his miscue Monday led to two extra bases on a single that rolled by him, he now has eight DM&E.

A good rightfielder will have about a 1:1 ratio. Duda isn’t close. Duda also rates below average when it comes to deterring runners from taking an extra base on base hits and fly balls.

Those misplays play a part in his ranking fifth-worst in the majors and worst among right fielders with –8 Defensive Runs Saved.

The other problem the Mets have is in converting double plays, though this is something that has looked better to the eye recently.

Second baseman Daniel Murphy has made significant improvements to his pivots and flips in the last week, but still lags behind the best in double play conversions (situations in which he was either a pivot or relay man with a man on first base and less than two outs).

He has converted 13 out of 30. The average second baseman turns them at a rate such that he’d have converted 19. Murphy still has a ways to go.

But there has been improvement and sometimes it takes awhile for the numbers to catch up and recognize that.

Murphy had three misplays related to attempting to convert a double play in his first four games of the season. He hasn’t had any since then.

But They Have Two Gold Glove Candidates…
Two Mets have played very good defense this season. One has been heralded for this quite a bit, David Wright. The other is pitcher R.A. Dickey,

A revision of BIS’s scoring system gave Dickey the lead among pitchers in Defensive Runs Saved last season with 10. He has two already this season, putting him on pace for similar numbers.

Dickey put on as solid a defensive display as a pitcher can in Saturday’s win, with three assists and a putout, including perfect execution of a tag play at third base and the trapping of another runner off second after fielding a comebacker.

That earned him a video montage on that night’s Baseball Tonight and praise from analyst Rick Sutcliffe.

"When you don't throw 90 miles-per-hour, you have to do the little things," Sutcliffe said that night. "R.A. does just that."

Dickey nearly broke the Mets 49-year-old record for assists by a pitcher last season with his MLB-leading 58. He’s already totaled 14 in his seven starts in 2011, tied with Mark Buehrle and Justin Masterson for most in the majors.


Wright has been far better through the first 35 games of 2012 than he has been in recent seasons.

Wright has made six GFPs in the last four games, giving him 16 for the season. Saturday, he earned a Web Gem (and a GFP) on Saturday for his perfect throw from foul territory that retired Marlins leftfielder Austin Kearns.

His latest GFP was the diving stop on Norichi Aoki in the eighth inning of Monday’s win over the Brewers.

Wright’s Good Play/Misplay ratio is 2-to-1 (16 GFP, 8 DM&E), far better than his 31 GFP, 32 DM&E tally last season and among the best in the game. It's on par with the player considered the NL's best defender-- Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.

The biggest difference from last season to this season has been in Wright’s throwing arm, which has been repeatedly praised on game telecasts for being sharper.

Wright had 10 throw-related DM&E last season and had two in his first six games in 2012. But he’s had just one in his last 26.

The one blemish for Wright is that he’s average when it comes to Defensive Runs Saved, as he has 0 this season.

The average Mets fan would likely disagree with that and something to watch over the last 127 games will be how that number bounces around with the visible improvements Wright has made.

The Shift is Working
You’re going to hear a lot about shifts this week, because the Mets are playing two teams -– the Brewers and Blue Jays -– who use it a lot.

But the Mets have also employed it a decent amount. BIS tracks defensive shifting with video review and ranks the Mets 12th in shifts used with 31 (about one per game), all against left-handed hitters.

BIS breaks this down further, noting that the Mets have used the “Ted Williams Shift” against a batted ball 17 times this season.

That’s a shift in which the shortstop or third baseman plays behind or to the right of second base, and the second baseman moves into shallow right field.

That defensive alignment worked in that it got outs on three of four line drives hit against it, and 11 of 13 ground balls.

The strategy has been to use it against the most extreme pull hitters, like Braves catcher Brian McCann, who had three ground outs and two line outs into the shift earlier this season.

Defensive Storylines to Watch
A few defensive storylines are still in development mode for the Mets. We’ll check in on those later this season.

1-- How the Mets fare in centerfield. Angel Pagan’s penchant for letting balls bounce off his glove and roll away led to the Mets ranking well below average in just about every metric related to this position last season.

So far, the combo of Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Andres Torres have rated about average, with the most egregious miscue being Nieuwenhuis’s misplay of a potential game-ending blooper against the Giants. He does rank among the leaders in the majors in Web Gems with three.

2-- How the Mets fare against basestealers. The Mets have allowed 30 steals this season, tied for fifth-most in the majors. They’ve nailed 23 percent of attempts, tied for seventh-worst among the 30 teams.

3-- How Ike Davis handles first base. Davis has rated about average so far in Defensive Runs Saved and Good Play/Misplay Ratio (11 GFP, 5 DM&E).

Davis’ trademark, his ability to snatch foul balls on the verge of going into stands, has happened twice this season. He and Travis Ishikawa are the two first baseman credited with a pair of GFP for such a play.

In-Depth runs every Tuesday

Recap | Box score | Photos

WHAT IT MEANS: David Wright went 4-for-6 to lift his average to a National League-leading .402. He also homered and produced three RBIs as the Mets bounced back from a ninth-inning defeat in the series opener.

R.A. Dickey limited Miami to two runs in six innings in the 9-3 victory Saturday at Marlins Park. The knuckleballer improved to 5-1.

Dickey was plunked by Ricky Nolasco on the right forearm with a pitch in the fifth inning with the bases loaded to force in a run, but remained in the game.

Nolasco remained stuck at 68 career wins, tied with Dontrelle Willis for the most in a Marlins uniform.

Wright delivered a first-inning RBI single after consecutive walks to Andres Torres and Kirk Nieuwenhuis to open the game. Two innings later, after Miami had pulled even at 1, Wright restored the lead with an opposite-field solo homer against Nolasco, against whom he is now hitting .400 with five homers and 15 RBIs in 60 career at-bats.

The Mets' lead grew to 3-1 in the fourth after Brett Hayes was called for catcher's interference on a would-be flyout by Torres, which prolonged the inning for an RBI single by Nieuwenhuis.

After Mike Nickeas and Dickey were consecutively hit by pitches by Nolasco in the fifth, the Mets grabbed a 6-1 lead when Torres delivered a two-run single that chased Nolasco.

BYRD THE WORD: Tim Byrdak entered in the seventh inning to bail out Manny Acosta after the Marlins had pulled within 7-3. For the second straight game, Byrdak struck out Logan Morrison to strand a runner in scoring position, although Morrison complained to plate umpire Tony Randazzo about his called third strike this time. Byrdak was making his 20^th appearance. He now is on pace for 98 appearances.

REYES OF LIGHT: Jose Reyes went 4-for-5 Saturday against his former club.

WHAT'S NEXT: Jon Niese (2-1, 4.01 ERA) opposes Carlos Zambrano (1-2, 1.98) in Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. series finale.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Miami Marlins turned the tables on Frank Francisco and the comeback kids.

Charged with protecting a one-run lead in the ninth, Francisco suffered a blown save after Giancarlo Stanton produced a leadoff double and Emilio Bonifacio plated him with a one-out single.

Bonifacio then swiped second -- his franchise-record 18th straight successful steal to open the season -- and scored the winning run in Miami’s 6-5 victory when Greg Dobbs singled with two out.

Francisco (1-2) suffered his second blown save in 10 chances.

To that point, the Mets had been poised for their MLB-high 12^th comeback win of the season.

Pinch hitter Mike Baxter delivered a tiebreaking two-run double with the bases loaded against reliever Ryan Webb in a three-run eighth to give the Mets a 5-3 lead.

Instead, the loss snapped the Mets’ five-game winning streak.

RALLY RECAP: Ike Davis began the rally from an early 3-0 deficit, delivering a solo homer in the fifth against Mark Buehrle. It was Davis’ second straight game with a homer. He belted a mammoth three-run shot off the second-deck façade against Jose Contreras in the eighth inning Wednesday at Philadelphia.

In the seventh, Mike Nickeas’ one-out RBI double against Buehrle pulled the Mets within a run, prompting Terry Collins to pinch hit for Johan Santana. But Justin Turner flied out. And after a walk to Andres Torres prompted Ozzie Guillen to go to his bullpen, southpaw Randy Choate struck out Daniel Murphy and the Mets headed to the bottom of the seventh trailing 3-2.

In the eighth, David Wright (3-for-5) dropped a leadoff double inside the right-field line against Edward Mujica. Wright moved to third on Lucas Duda’s groundout. Kirk Nieuwenhuis pinch hit for Scott Hairston and delivered a game-tying double. After an intentional walk to Davis and unintentional walk to Ronny Cedeno loaded the bases, Baxter pinch hit for Nickeas against Webb and improved to 6-for-15 with five RBIs as a pinch hitter this season. Baxter’s two-run double gave the Mets a 5-3 lead.

THE NEW FELICIANO: Tim Byrdak appeared to save the day for the Mets yet again. In each of the first two games in Philly, the southpaw stranded an inherited runner at third base in the eighth inning. After Bobby Parnell surrendered a run in the eighth inning on Friday night as the Marlins pulled within 5-4, Byrdak entered with two out and Omar Infante on second base and struck out Logan Morrison to end the threat.

Byrdak is on pace for 96 appearances, which would break the single-season relief record set by Feliciano in his final three seasons as a Met (86, 88 and 92).

NO WAY, COURTESY JOSE: Jose Reyes quickly ensured game No. 8,000 would be the Mets’ 8,000^th game without a no-hitter. Reyes, who went only 1-for-12 in New York last month, opened the bottom of the first inning against Santana with a triple narrowly beyond the reach of Torres, who awkwardly played the shot to center field.

Reyes (1-for-4) scored when the newly installed No. 2 hitter Infante dropped a single into shallow left field. Austin Kearns delivered a two-run homer later in the frame. Kearns had been a late replacement in left field for the scratched Morrison, after Guillen decided he liked Kearns matching up better against Santana.

Santana’s final line: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.

SHORT STORY: In his first action since April 20, Cedeno returned from the disabled list and went 1-for-2 with two walks. Cedeno will be in the regular shortstop until Ruben Tejada returns from the DL, Collins said.

FIELDING OF DREAMS: Santana and Wright, both former Gold Glove recipients, turned in fielding gems on consecutive plays in the fifth. Santana lunged to catch a bunt attempt from Buehrle in the air. Then, Wright barehanded a grounder from Reyes and threw to first in time to retire his former teammate. An inning earlier, Santana caught Stanton stealing with a pickoff move.

WHAT’S NEXT: Other than a postgame LL Cool J concert after Friday’s game at Marlins Park? R.A. Dickey (4-1, 3.76) opposes Ricky Nolasco (4-0, 2.72 ERA) on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.

WHAT IT MEANS: They’re the comeback kings.

For the MLB-leading 11^th time this season, the Mets produced a comeback victory. It lifted them to a 10-6 win Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park and their first sweep of a three-game series in Philly since June 2006.

The Mets (18-13) moved five games over .500 for the first time since July 19, 2010, when they were 49-44.

The reeling Phillies, at 14-18, dropped four games under .500 for the first time since May 9, 2007 -- exactly five years ago. (Don’t look up how that season turned out in the NL East.)

The Mets had rallied from a 2-0 deficit in Monday’s series opener, then a 4-0 deficit Tuesday for victories. This time, they trailed 4-2 after six innings.

PEN PALTRY: After Cliff Lee departed at 84 pitches in his first outing since returning from the disabled list, the Mets rallied with a three-run seventh against reliever Kyle Kendrick. The first five batters reached, then Andres Torres delivered a run-scoring groundout to give the Mets a 5-4 lead.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis opened the frame with a walk. Justin Turner and Ike Davis consecutively doubled. Rob Johnson walked to load the bases. Then Kendrick plunked pinch hitter Lucas Duda to force in the tying run and set up Torres’ at-bat.

It marked the Phillies’ fifth blown save in their past 10 games.

Kendrick remained in for the eighth and surrendered a leadoff double to David Wright, then broken-bat RBI double to Scott Hairston as the Mets claimed a two-run lead. Later that inning, after Hunter Pence dropped a routine fly ball in right field, Davis launched a mammoth three-run homer off the façade of the second deck in right field against Jose Contreras to give the Mets a 9-4 cushion. It was Davis’ first long ball since April 18, against Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens.

The Phillies had taken a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth while chasing Dillon Gee on a tiebreaking double by Freddy Galvis and RBI single by Laynce Nix.

HEY THERE MR.: D.J. Carrasco pitched the ninth in his first 2012 appearance with the Mets. He allowed one run.

WHAT’S NEXT: A day off at South Beach for the Mets on Thursday. The Amazin’s then open a weekend series against Jose Reyes and the Marlins on Friday -- their first glimpse at Miami’s new stadium. The opener, which features southpaws Johan Santana and Mark Buehrle, is the 8,000^th regular-season game in Mets history. And, presumably, the 8,000^th game in franchise history without a no-hitter. Reyes went 1-for-12 during the series at Citi Field.

Terry Collins said Wednesday's backup-laden lineup was not a product of winning the first two games of the series in Philadelphia. The manager insisted this is the route he would have gone even had the Mets not won Monday and Tuesday.

"We're playing tonight to win," Collins said.

The manager cited a handful of reasons for the lineup decisions, which include righty hitters Vinny Rottino and Scott Hairston as the corner outfielders over lefty hitters Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda.

Among the reasons Collins cited for those outfield assignments:

* After Thursday's off-day, the Mets play 20 straight days. So the backups will need to be sharp, and that means getting in the lineup.

* The Mets' lefty hitters have struggled against southpaws. Duda, despite crucial run-scoring hits against left-handed relievers in his final two at-bats Tuesday, is hitting .214 this season against southpaws. Nieuwenhuis is hitting .207. And while acknowledging Wednesday's Phillies starter, Cliff Lee, has been removed from Triple-A for a while, Collins noted Rottino's numbers against southpaws with Triple-A Buffalo were solid (.360 in 25 at-bats). Hairston, Collins added, is on the roster to face lefty pitching.

* Duda can use a two-day break with Thursday's off-day. He has lost roughly 10 pounds during his flu ordeal, according to Collins.

Incidentally, Wednesday's game against Lee will be the 14th time in 31 games the Mets have faced a left-handed starting pitcher. Collins believes that is just "happenstance" rather than teams purposely setting their rotations to line up southpaws for the Mets series -- at least right now. The Mets are 5-8 in games started by lefties and 12-5 in games started by righties.

They are on pace to see 73 left-handed starters this season. They faced 40 last year, 39 in 2010 and 43 in 2009.

• Ronny Cedeno, working back from a strained intercostal muscle on his left side, played nine innings in an extended spring training game Wednesday. Collins has mentioned Friday in Miami as a logical activation date from the DL, but hedged ever so slightly today on that being the precise day he joins the Mets. Collins said he would like to see Cedeno face -- and have successful swings against -- higher level pitching, since he will be plugged in as the regular shortstop once off the DL ... until Ruben Tejada returns.

• Jordany Valdespin worked early Wednesday afternoon with infield coach Tim Teufel on technique accepting pickoff and catcher's throws as the shortstop. The tutorial came a day after Valdespin committed an error at shortstop on an airmailed throw, missed a pickoff throw and couldn't handle another throw from Mike Nickeas that might otherwise have resulted in a caught stealing.

Collins said Valdespin had been positioning himself in front of the bag. Mets coaches would like Valdespin to straddle the bag and let the ball travel longer. That's because the ball moves faster than Valdespin accepting the throw in front of the base and then trying to swipe a tag.

• Jenrry Mejia will make three more rehab starts before team officials decide whether he is used as a starter or reliever for the remainder of the season, Mets personnel told the Star-Ledger. Mejia pitched five innings for Class A St. Lucie on Wednesday morning.