YO IT’S

Cespedes’ latest monster shot

A RELATIVELY MINOR moment Saturday night in the Mets’ 12-1 victory over the Phillies might have been the most symbolic of how the club’s fortunes have changed recently, at least to Terry Collins.

Noah Syndergaard was leading off third base in the fourth inning and flinched when Yoenis Cespedes hit a screaming line drive toward him. The ball missed, but, as Collins put it, “You don’t want to know what I thought.

“Two weeks ago, it’d have hit him in the back or in the right elbow.”

Baseball’s version of gallows humor, to be sure. But the point is, things mostly are going well for the Mets right now, so much so that they smashed four homers Saturday night — one apiece by Asdrubal Cabrera, Cespedes, Kelly Johnson and Neil Walker — to back a second straight excellent start by Syndergaard.

They’ve now won six of their last seven games and it’s not so far-fetched to suggest they are establishing themselves in the National League wild card race. Since the Cardinals lost Saturday, the Mets have crept to within 2.5 games of the second wild card spot.

“I think the energy in the room right now, it goes back to the last two months of last season,” Cespedes said through a translator, evoking one of the truly great runs in Met history.

Is what’s happening now this year’s version? Maybe. “There’s some confidence in there right now,” Collins said of the clubhouse, noting that getting hitters such as Cespedes and Cabrera back from injury and Walker back from the paternity list offered a sense of relief to the rest of the lineup.

Power ruled Saturday night, whether it was the four homers or Syndergaard’s pitching. The four longballs give the Mets a singleseason record of 87 at Citi Field this season, eclipsing the mark of 85 set by last year’s club. The Mets have homered 50 times in their last 30 home games.

Syndergaard (12-7) allowed one run and two hits in seven innings, meaning he’s given up one run and four hits in 15 frames over his last two starts. He