WASHINGTON — Jason Bay knew he was in no position to complain. When you haven’t been part of the team for nearly five weeks and when he hasn’t really hit all season — or in a Mets uniform, for that matter — Bay knew he had no rebuttal when manager Terry Collins pinch-hit for him in the ninth inning of last night’s game against the Nationals.
So instead of getting one last chance to redeem himself, Bay only could turn cheerleader and watch Jordany Valdespin belt a dramatic three-run, pinch-hit homer that momentarily gave the Mets a 3-2 lead. Thanks to a faulty bullpen, the Mets wound up losing, 5-4, in 10 innings.
Bay went 0-for-3, dropping his batting average to .179 for the season and raising questions as to how long the Mets can wait for him to heat up. Collins insisted pinch-hitting for him in the ninth with the game on the line wasn’t an easy decision.
The Mets were down 2-0 with one out after singles by Josh Thole and David Wright. Collins had told Bay before the inning began that if his spot came up, he might use a pinch-hitter.
“You don’t really have an argument there,” Bay said. “Had I been doing better, had I been around and swinging the bat well, I could say ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ Obviously, you want to hit. You want a chance to do something well. But there’s no way I can argue.”
Valdespin, who was recalled on July 4, made the most of his opportunity, crushing a 1-2 change-up off Nats closer Tyler Clippard just over the right-field wall. Before the game, Collins had talked of “using the power we’ve got.” He wasn’t necessarily talking about Valdespin.
“I’m just doing my job,” Valdespin said. “See the ball. Hit the ball. That’s it. When I get the chance, I come to the at-bat and show [Collins] I can play.”
It’s clear Collins wants to give Bay every opportunity to be the player the Mets always believed he could be, the player they paid him to be when they gave him a $66 million contract in 2009. They’ve yet to get a worthy return on their investment. Injuries and a prolonged slump have stymied his career.
Still Collins said it was tough to take him out of the lineup last night.
“He hasn’t been here in a while,” the manager said. “It was not the easiest thing in the world to do. Make no mistake about it because we’re going to need Jason Bay in the lineup and [to] get him going. I just thought a left-hander had a better shot.”
Batting fifth, Bay grounded into a double-play in the second inning, grounded out to the pitcher in the fourth and flew out to shallow center field in the seventh, failing to score Wright from third with out one. All of his at-bats came against starter Ross Detwiler, who allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings.
“I felt good and I saw the ball well,” Bay said. “His two-seamer was filthy. We didn’t really do a whole lot off him.”
It was only the first game back from the disabled list for Bay, who was out with a concussion. But Collins will have to decide how long he can wait. Valdespin, who now has five homers, can’t be overlooked.
“He’s full of confidence,” Wright said. “He believes that he belongs here. He puts about as a good an at-bat as any pinch-hitter that I’ve ever seen. He goes up there and puts some good swings on the ball and gets some huge hits for us.”
That’s what the Mets want to be saying about Bay. But it hasn’t happened yet. Time is running out.
george.willis@nypost.com