METS NOTES

McNeil did a lot in Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Braves at Citi Field. He played flawless defense at second base, robbing Johan Camargo of a hit in the second inning with a leaping catch. And he went with the pitches. He sent a key secondinning double the opposite way.

“That’s the kind of hitter he is. He really goes with the ball. The one hit [in the fourth] back up the middle looked like Ichiro [Suzuki] a little bit, he was kind of running out of the box,” manager Mickey Callaway said.

“He’s able to manipulate the barrel, he’s able to put tough pitches in play or foul them off to see other pitches. He’s done a great job at the plate. His defense in the field was very impressive too, as well. So he’s doing a great job for us and I’m glad we have him.”

➤ The Mets don’t care if it’s monotonous, humdrum or predictable. They want Corey Oswalt working on a regular routine.

Of course, pitching every fifth day is really not monotonous. But that is what the Mets want for Oswalt, the Mets’ designated replacement for Ste

ven Matz on Sunday, when he’ll make his sixth Major League start — all this season.

“We would like to see him pitch as much as possible. What we need to focus on is that he’s pitching every fifth day. It doesn’t have to be here,” Callaway said of Oswalt, 24, who had made 11 Triple-A starts for Las Vegas this season. “We need to get him in a routine. ... He’s got the stuff, the deception, the breaking ball, the ability to throw the ball over the plate and attack and have success up here.”