METS COME HOME HAPPY

Bart’s arm, bat swing mood

ATLANTA — Remember when everyone laughed the day the Mets named Bartolo Colon their Opening Day starter? Who’s laughing now?

Well, Colon actually.

The rotund righty turned in his second straight strong start for the Mets, and provided some comic relief — and a key run — at the plate in the Mets’ sweep-avoiding 4-3 run over the Braves Sunday.

“We’re excited with the way game went today,” Terry Collins said after the Mets improved to 3-3 heading into Monday’s home opener. “Bart was outstanding again.”

Colon, who outdueled Max Scherzer on Opening Day, gave the Mets just what they needed after two rough games against the Braves, allowing three runs over seven innings. But it was his fourth-inning RBI single that gave the Mets, and their slumping offense the biggest lift. While he certainly didn’t get any style points with an awful swing and his helmet flying off his head, his broken bat hit over a drawn-in infield gave the Mets a 3-2 lead. It also gave everyone a chuckle.

“When he puts it in play, he gets a cheer,” Collins said. “When he gets a hit, he gets a double cheer.”

“It was fun to watch,” said Michael Cuddyer, whose first home run as a Met gave them a 2-0 lead in the first. “It’s always fun to watch him hit.”

Colon gave the run back in the seventh on a solo shot by Jonny Gomes to left field that tied the game, but pinch-hitter Curtis Granderson and catcher Anthony Recker walked to start the eighth. After a sac bunt by Wilmer Flores and an intentional walk to Ruben Tejada (that’s not a misprint), Daniel Murphy hit a sac fly to give the Mets the lead. From there it was up to the bullpen, which pitched two scoreless innings. Jeurys Familia, the new closer with Jenrry Mejia hurt and suspended, picked up his first save of the season.

It was a quiet clubhouse Sunday morning with news of Mejia’s failed PED test still hanging over the Mets as well as the two straight losses. The Mets faced the prospect of facing a frustrated sellout crowd at their home opener, but Colon (2-0) changed the mood. He struck out five and did not walk a batter. Colon should have been out of the second inning unscathed, but Tejada — playing second base for Murphy — and Flores were slow and missed a potential inning-ending double play. Andrelton Simmons made them pay with a two-run triple. Colon shrugged it off. “It would have been a total different story if it was a double play, but I can’t control that,” Colon said. “After the triple, I had to execute pitches and do my job. I was happy with the results today.”

And so was the entire Mets dugout in the fourth inning when Colon used his trademark lunge-forward-and-lose-his-batting-heltechnique to slap an RBI single into right field. That snapped an 0-for-37 streak for him and was his first RBI since June 10, 2005 for the Angels against the Mets at Shea Stadium.

The fourth inning started on a feel-good note, when Flores led off with a double. The shortstop has not only been shaky on defense but his bat has been, too. Tejada moved Flores to third to set up Colon, who bent forward, reached and got the ball with the end of the bat, punching the ball behind the Braves infield, which was playing in. When he reached first base, sans his batting helmet, Colon was laughing at the Mets dugout, which had erupted with cheers.

“It was a big win and now we can go home 3-3 instead of 2-4, look forward to the home opener,” said Cuddyer.