Terry Collins is trying his best to make this a baseball summer at Citi Field.
To do that, the Mets have to beat the bad teams and last night was a good start with two big plays from local Met Mike Baxter, who grew up a short drive from the ballpark.
The Mets own the second best record in the majors against teams over .500 at 17-13. Only the Orioles are better at 20-14, notes statistician Bill Chuck.
The challenge for the Mets is to beat the teams .500 and under. They went into last night 7-8 in that department, but evened their mark with the 6-1 whipping of the pitiful Padres as Dillon Gee struck out a career-high nine batters over seven innings.
Collins is slowly changing the culture, but there is much work to be done.
“In my years in baseball I’ve learned that when you win, one of the things you do is beat the teams you are supposed to beat, because when you play the real good teams, you are going to lose some of those games,’’ the manager told The Post. “When you play those teams where you say, ‘Hey look, we are better than that, we’ve got to win those games,’ that’s how you end up being successful. I’ve watched the Yankees do it, I’ve watched the Red Sox do it, I’ve watched the Rays do it.’’
The Padres are in last place in the NL West with a 17-30 record.
Baxter was the leadoff hitter, followed by Kirk Nieuwenhuis, David Wright and Lucas Duda. Baxter got the RBI double that put the Mets ahead in the third and made a terrific catch jumping high against the left field wall in the first, turning the catch into a double play and stopping the Padres in their tracks. Duda homered in the second and Nieuwenhuis picked up two hits and an RBI.
To put the Mets’ top four in perspective consider those men, even with all of Wright’s experience, have combined to play 1,434 games.
The top four hitters in the Yankees lineup last night were Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano. They have played 7,025 major league games. That’s 5,591 more games than the Mets’ one through four hitters. The three young Mets: Baxter, Nieuwenhuis and Duda have a grand total of 286 major league games under their belts.
Add Ike Davis, who has appeared in only 227 games and Daniel Murphy (359 games) and it’s a lineup filled with inexperience.
“We hope to change the culture, we’ve got some future here,’’ Collins told The Post. “That’s why, to be honest, when it came to the Ike Davis decision, come on, we’re trying to build for the future. I know it’s important to win today, I understand that, but the big picture down the road is we’ve got these young core guys and we have to learn to play up here and succeed.’’
That starts with beating the teams they should beat, such as the Padres.
Collins, who comes from a player development background, loves to see players like Baxter, 27, who was released by the Padres last year, grow.
“A lot of players who are high draft picks cruise through the minor leagues and others had to grind it out,’’ Collins said. “One of them was Mike Piazza, a 62nd-round draft choice who got a chance to grasp the opportunity to be a star. Mike Baxter, I’m not trying to compare him to Mike Piazza, but he came to camp to make the club and he’s not only made the club he’s pretty tough to get out of the lineup right now.’’
It’s all about making winning plays.
Baxter, a shortstop at Archbishop Molloy, is still learning to play the outfield, and after last week’s confusion on a fly ball in Pittsburgh, this night was a huge step forward.
“That was a tough night,’’ Baxter said. “That’s over with, it’s nice to get the chance to help.’’
The Mets need to make the most of all their opportunities.