MLB

PEL, YEAH!

ATLANTA – So this must be the Mike Pelfrey with all that Amazin’ potential. Where has this been all season?

Better late than never for the Mets. Pelfrey, the 23-year-old right-hander who has shuttled between Triple-A and the major leagues all year, stepped into the middle of a pennant race yesterday and made the kind of impact that has been expected of him from the start.

The Braves barely touched Pelfrey for six innings, allowing the Mets to push last week’s Philly Fiasco deeper into the past.

The Mets won 5-1 at Turner Field, a second straight victory that probably eliminated the Braves from this NL East chase.

Atlanta fell 6½ games behind the Mets, who lead Philadelphia by three lengths after the Phillies’ loss last night to the Marlins. The Mets already have their first series victory over the Braves this season and will look for a three-game sweep when Tom Glavine faces John Smoltz today.

“It just shows this is a good ballclub,” catcher Paul Lo Duca said, referring to the Mets’ consecutive victories after losing four straight to the Phillies. “It shows that we can forget about things and move on.”

Willie Randolph evidently made the right call when he tapped Pelfrey to fill the rotation spot vacated by Brian Lawrence. The manager’s other option was untested Philip Humber, who arrived yesterday along with Pelfrey and lefty reliever Willie Callazo in the first wave of September roster expansion.

Pelfrey (1-7) turned in the performance of his career, holding the Braves to one run on one hit over six innings with two walks and seven strikeouts before Guillermo Mota and Pedro Feliciano finished it.

“I’ve been working hard all year and got a little a payback today,” Pelfrey said. “I’ve had a rough year.”

As surprising as it was to see the atrocious Mota enter with the Mets trying to protect a three-run lead in the seventh inning, give the right-hander credit: He rebounded from a Jeff Francoeur leadoff single to strike out Andruw Jones before Chris Woodward hit into a double play. Feliciano then worked two scoreless innings, striking out five of the six hitters he faced.

Chuck James (9-10) went five innings for the Braves and allowed three earned runs on five hits with no walks and one strikeout. James’ undoing was the fifth inning, when he allowed solo home runs to Carlos Delgado and Lastings Milledge. For the previously slumping Delgado, the homer was his second in as many games.

“It’s the point of the season where we really need [Delgado] to stay focused on what he’s doing,” Randolph said.

The Braves showed life in the fifth, getting a run on Willie Harris’ sacrifice fly, but that wasn’t so bad for Pelfrey considering he had loaded the bases with one out. Francoeur was hit by a pitch to start the inning and glared at Pelfrey as he walked to first base, but an escort from plate umpire Jeff Kellogg helped keep the peace. Andruw Jones then walked and, with one out, pinch-hitter Scott Thorman walked. After the Harris sacrifice fly, Pelfrey struck out Kelly Johnson.

What angered Francoeur? Pelfrey thought he heard Francoeur make reference to Pelfrey hitting him with a pitch earlier in the year. But Pelfrey never hit Francoeur in that game – he did drill Andruw Jones. Little wonder Pelfrey said he didn’t remember.

“But I don’t remember what I did yesterday,” Pelfrey said.

The Mets padded their lead with Carlos Beltran’s homer leading off the seventh that made it 4-1. Beltran tripled in the ninth and scored on Delgado’s sacrifice fly.

“After getting swept in Philadelphia and losing that important series, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy against the Braves,” Beltran said. “But we did a great job today and [Friday] also.”

mpuma@nypost.com