MLB

Mets satisfied with Citi Field dimension change

Don’t blame the reconfigured Citi Field for the Mets’ brutal play at home this season.

The Mets will conclude their home schedule today without much doubt — if any — general manager Sandy Alderson made the right call last offseason when he decided to shorten the dimensions at the previously cavernous ballpark.

“I am so glad they did it,” Scott Hairston said before the Mets beat the Pirates 6-0 last night. “It has made things fairer. You want that in-between, and it’s perfect.”

The Mets are only 35-45 at home this season, but the ballpark reconfiguration can hardly be cited as a factor. There have been 46 homers hit at Citi Field this season that wouldn’t have cleared the fences last year. Opponents hold a 25-21 advantage in “new” Citi Field home runs. That number is consistent with the 154 home runs allowed by the Mets this season overall, compared to the 133 hit by the team.

With the 17-foot “Great Wall of Flushing” eliminated in left field and dimensions also shortened in right-center and right field, Citi Field had yielded an average of 1.91 homers per game this season entering last night, making it the ninth toughest ballpark in the National League in which to hit a homer. Last year Citi Field yielded 1.33 homers per game and was the NL’s third toughest ballpark in which to hit a homer.

R.A. Dickey, who today will shoot for his 20th victory of the season, initially feared the new Citi Field would be too beneficial to hitters. But yesterday he said his worst fears never materialized.

BOX SCORE

“It doesn’t even creep into your mind,” Dickey said. “It’s not like Great American Ballpark [in Cincinnati] or something like that where you have to be real careful. You can still challenge guys for the most part. I feel like it’s fair.”

David Wright, with four “new” Citi Field home runs, has been the biggest beneficiary of the shortened dimensions. Hairston and Ike Davis each have three “new” Citi homers.

“It’s still a big park,” said Davis, who has 30 home runs, only 10 of which had been hit at home. “The opposite field is the biggest thing. The wall in left, it was not only a Black Monster, but it was really far. It’s definitely better now, but I wouldn’t say it’s a hitter’s park.”

Dickey cited the fact the Mets have a 30-homer hitter in Davis and 20-homer hitter in Wright as perhaps evidence the smaller ballpark has helped the Mets’ hitters psychologically. In the first three seasons of Citi Field, the Mets never had two players reach the 20-homer plateau.

“The truth of the matter is, if a hitter hits it good it should be a home run, and it is now,” Dickey said. “It’s perfectly fair, and more than that I think it looks really natural the way they did it. Aesthetically, it fits.”

Hairston said the Mets have been more confident at the plate because of the ballpark changes.

“Throughout the year, if you really get into one it’s going to go,” Hairston said. “That’s really reassuring and just builds confidence.”

* Lefty reliever Robert Carson was diagnosed with a triceps tendon strain after undergoing an MRI exam yesterday. Carson was pleased with the result after initially fearing a more serious injury that could have impacted next season. … Frank Francisco (elbow tendinitis) is expected to be shut down for the remaining seven games.

mpuma@nypost.com