Davidoff: Suddenly, Mets can't do anything wrong

On Aug. 23 of last year, Jeff Francoeur absolutely smoked a ball. Crushed it. It went straight into the glove of Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett, who proceeded to complete an unassisted triple play.

Wednesday at Citi Field, with Jason Bay on second base and two outs in the third inning, Francoeur waved at a 2-and-2 slider from Dodgers starter John Ely. He poked it toward the rightfield foul line for a run-scoring double.

"It was beautiful," the Mets' rightfielder said, smiling.

The Mets' world is beautiful right now. Actually, it's more than just beautiful. It's a Bizarro World.

It's a world in which they get the breaks. In which their highly regarded, highly paid opponents suffer on-the-field meltdowns and deal with off-the-field sniping.

It's a world in which your New York Mets will visit Citizens Bank Park tomorrow night, taking on the rival Phillies, as the National League East leaders.

"Last year was a miserable year for us," Jose Reyes said after the Mets completed a 9-1 homestand with a 7-3 beating of the Dodgers. "A lot of injuries, stuff like that. This year, we don't have too many injuries. We believe in ourselves. We believe in what we can do on the field. It's paying off now."

Said Jerry Manuel: "The way we're going right now, I could probably go in the game and get a few outs."

Manuel is hilarious again, because, in this Bizarro World, he is a good manager again. Keep in mind that the Mets just put a Flushing beat down on the Cubs (Lou Piniella), Braves (Bobby Cox) and Dodgers (Joe Torre), whose managers rank 14th, fourth and fifth, respectively, on the all-time list for victories.

The Mets, under Manuel, played better fundamental baseball than their three opponents. They capitalized on the visitors' mistakes.

They made the right moves, at the right times. Wednesday, Manuel lifted improved starting pitcher John Maine once Maine walked Jamey Carroll to start the seventh. Fernando Nieve induced a Reed Johnson's flyout and Russell Martin's double play, and started the eighth by retiring Matt Kemp on a grounder to shortstop. Then Manuel switched to lefty Pedro Feliciano, who retired third and fourth hitters Andre Ethier and James Loney. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth.

"I think we'll probably be judged on how we handle that part of the game, and when relievers are coming and throwing strikes, it's obviously a good feeling for you," Manuel said. "Our guys, they've come in and pitched very well. We've found some favorable matchups, those types of things. Things just happen to be going that way."

Going above Manuel, too, the Mets suddenly are competent. Compared to the Cubs' long list of bloated salaries, the Braves' lack of offense and the Dodgers' dime-store pitching staff, calling up Ike Davis two weeks late seems like a misdemeanor, no?

In the other dugout Wednesday, meanwhile, Torre - wearing the same look of exhaustion that symbolized his final Yankees years - had to put out a fire caused by general manager Ned Colletti, who decided to pick a public fight with his players.

In an interview with Los Angeles radio station KABC, Colletti spoke of players who "think that they're better than they are," and singled out centerfielder Kemp for poor defense and baserunning.

Playing the good cop role he perfected under George Steinbrenner, Torre said, "I'm not sure anybody looks good losing," and "I'm not of a mind to think the players don't care."

You know, the kind of statements that Mets higher-ups often make.

We'll see if Philadelphia can accommodate this Bizarro World. For now, though, the Mets' frowns have turned upside down.

What's next? Jimmy Rollins is injured and can't play this weekend? Oh, wait . . .