MLB

Niese fans 10 as Mets move into tie atop East

Jonathon Niese charts all of Johan Santana’s starts and did again for the Met ace’s no-hitter Friday night. When he charts, Niese can learn from Santana how he should approach hitters.

Because both Santana and Niese are lefties and because the 25-year-old Niese pitches two games after Santana in the rotation, having Santana back in the rotation this year helps Niese immeasurably. He can watch Santana’s patterns and determine that he’ll handle the lineup the same way.

“And it’s fun to watch, too,” Niese said.

Niese’s outing in last night’s 6-1 win over the Cardinals put the Mets in a virtual first-place tie in the NL East.

BOX SCORE

In his fifth start this season he’s pitched against the same opponent in the same series as Santana, Niese delivered six shutout innings and struck out a career-high 10.

Examining the starts, Niese is now 3-0 in those games with a 1.65 ERA.

Niese, who allowed six hits and a walk, kept the Mets’ rotation on a blazing streak. The Mets, who have now on nine of 12, shut out St. Louis for 7 2/3 innings, making it 252/3 consecutive scoreless frames overall before Elvin Ramirez, making his major-league debut gave up a two-out run in the eighth inning. A week ago, the Mets had a 28-inning scoreless stretch. They’re the majors’ two longest streaks this year.

At exactly the one-third point of the season, 54 games, the Mets (31-23, .574) and the Marlins (31-23) are just percentage points behind the Nationals (30-22, .577) for first place in the NL East.

“I wasn’t aware of that,” Terry Collins said, “but I do know they should be very proud of where they are.”

While Niese was excellent last night, he’ll need to be examined by a doctor today. In the middle innings, his heart rate became elevated. Collins came to the mound to check on him in the fifth and eventually pulled him after 96 pitches through six.

“We’re gonna have him checked out [today],” Collins said. “He had it last [June 25] in Texas. He had it tonight.”

Niese isn’t overly concerned. He said the tests he had last year were fine, he hadn’t experienced it since and he felt good after last night’s game.

“Just one of those things where heart starts racing and things get exciting and just won’t slow down,” Niese said. “Not really [scary]. Just because I’ve felt it before and I know it’s not an issue. It’s not something that hinders my performance.”

The Mets’ top three starters — Santana, Dickey and Niese — have been otherworldly this series, combining to hurl 24 scoreless innings against St. Louis. The trio allowed only 13 hits while striking out 27.

“This is incredible,” catcher Josh Thole said of the pitching.

The Mets have outscored the reigning world champions this series, 19-1. This afternoon they’ll go for a four-game sweep with Dillon Gee on the mound.

“[Today] I want Dillon to stand up,” Collins said, “and say, ‘I’m gonna do the same thing those guys are doing.’”

Andres Torres and Kirk Nieuwenhuis paced the Mets offensively. Torres doubled and scored in the first inning and added a two-run triple in the sixth. Nieuwenhuis drove in three, highlighted by a two-run homer in the fourth off Jake Westbrook. It was the rookie’s first homer since April 20.

mark.hale@nypost.com