JOSE SHOWS

Leads Met offense

ATLANTA — Jose Reyes knew that a big test was coming. Before the Mets left Citi Field a week ago, like everyone else who watched Yoenis Cespedes hobble off the field that day, Reyes knew that they would be without their biggest hitter for a while. After manager Terry Collins held his first team meeting of the season last Thursday, challenging the Mets to step up in Cespedes’ absence, Reyes said the team would learn a lot about itself on this trip. “We know our big guy from our lineup is out right now and some guys need to step it up,” Reyes said Wednesday night, wearing a crown in the visitor’s clubhouse at SunTrust Park after helping the Mets beat up on the Braves, 16-5. “When you have your key guys injured, it means guys have to step up and we feel like we have been able to do that.” The Mets are now without their biggest hitter and their biggest pitcher with Noah Syndergaard on the disabled list as well. For a team built on power behind Cespedes’ bat and power pitching behind Syndergaard, that is crushing.

But Wednesday night showed that the Mets can scrape by on pedestrian pitching and with veterans like Reyes picking up the pieces offensively.

The Mets, who went into the game with the worst team batting average in the National League, scored a season-high 16 runs and 20 hits — not one of which was a home run. Their nine doubles were the second most in club history. They went 12for-20 with runners in scoring position.

“We have a good offensive team. We knew at sometime we were going to start hitting,” Collins said. “You’re starting to see better at-bats, better pitch selections. So I think that’s a big difference.”

They balanced the attack, with six players having at least two hits.

And Reyes, who had started the season going 8-for-70, really picked up the slack Wednesday. He had a three-run double in the Mets’ seven-run top of the eighth inning. He finished with a career-high five RBI.

“It feels good, you know, to win the game like that,” Reyes said. “You don’t even hit a homer. That’s a good feeling. Hopefully we can continue to play like this. I mean we are not going to score 16 runs every game, but you get a key

AP Jose Reyes finally gets a grip at the plate, driving in five runs on night Jacob deGrom (inset) also chips in with bat, stroking two-run single in rout of Braves.