Beware of the worst-to-first Mets.
Champagne doesn’t get uncorked in April, but for the moment, at least, the Mets can stand tall and thumb their noses at the Phillies and the rest of the NL East.
Surprise, surprise: These are the first-place Mets.
Jerry Manuel’s bunch is playing so well that even an Oliver Perez stink bomb is tolerable. Perez was a mess in the nightcap of yesterday’s Citi Field doubleheader, but the Mets’ lineup awoke to score a season-high in runs and bludgeon the Dodgers 10-5.
It came just hours after Johan Santana fired six shutout innings and Jason Bay homered for the first time this season to lead the Mets to a 4-0 victory. The Phillies and Marlins both lost, giving the Mets a half-game lead in the NL East. Not bad for a team that arrived home nine days ago standing at 4-8 and last in the division.
But the Mets have won six straight games and eight of nine since then, leaving little to complain about. Perez aside, the pitching remains strong, and there are signs of life within the lineup.
“I knew once some of those middle-of-the-order guys hit, that it could be a lot of fun,” Manuel said. “The good thing is we have won when we haven’t hit. Now that we’re hitting, it makes it an all-inclusive type of thing.”
The surge included David Wright going 3-for-3 — including his 1,000th career hit — with four RBIs in the nightcap. But it was Hisanori Takahashi (2-1) who saved the day by allowing one run over 31/3 innings after Perez was knocked out in the fourth after surrendering three runs.
“Jerry made the right decision to take me out because I wasn’t able to throw strikes,” Perez said. “[Takahashi] settled us down, and that’s why we won.”
Manuel said he is sticking with Perez in the rotation, despite the fact the lefty has completed six innings only once in four starts. But the manager conceded that Takahashi is an intriguing option if the team continues to have “issues.”
Perez’s troubles contrast the 1-2 punch atop the Mets’ rotation, as Santana and Mike Pelfrey have combined to allow one run over their last 451/3 innings.
Though Santana (3-1) wasn’t his sharpest in Game 1, walking three batters — all in the second inning — he battled to get through six innings before Fernando Nieve and Pedro Feliciano finished it.
Pelfrey, with a scoreless streak of 24 innings, has been money in the bank for the Mets, and Santana isn’t far behind, with one run allowed over his last 211/3 innings.
The Dodgers loaded the bases against Santana in the second inning on three walks, but the lefty struck out pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to end the threat. It also put Santana’s pitch count at 49 through two innings. He finished six innings at 106 pitches.
“It was a weird day,” Santana said. “It was too cold and windy. I couldn’t get anything going.”
Bay’s first homer since receiving a $66 million contract from the Mets last winter — a shot into the left-field seats leading off the fourth — gave his team a 2-0 lead. It was the most promising sign yet that perhaps Bay’s early-season struggles are behind him.
Bay entered yesterday batting .381 (8-for-21) in his previous seven games, but the Mets were waiting to see him clear the fence for the first time.
In the nightcap, Wright snapped a 3-3 tie by delivering an RBI single before Ike Davis doubled to bring home two more.
Wright’s three-run triple as part of a four-run sixth was the icing on the cake for the Mets.
“I’m glad,” Wright said, “that I could finally contribute to a win.”
mpuma@nypost.com