MLB

Beltran encourages Mets to re-sign Jose after Reyes-fueled victory

PITTSBURGH — Carlos Beltran likely won’t be with the Mets next season, but that doesn’t mean he’s without an opinion on how the organization should proceed.

The veteran outfielder takes one look around, and has a difficult time envisioning anyone but Jose Reyes playing shortstop for the Mets over the next several seasons.

“They should make the effort and try to sign him, for sure,” Beltran told The Post after the Mets’ 7-0 win over the Pirates yesterday at PNC Park — a victory fueled, in part, by Reyes’ three hits, including a homer.

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“He grew up in this organization,” Beltran went on. “I don’t know what’s in his mind, but players like him, they don’t come too often. He’s had nothing wrong with him. He’s playing the game and having fun every day, so you want to have a player like that.”

In recent weeks, general manager Sandy Alderson has said he expects to meet with Reyes’ agents during the season to begin finding out what they have in mind for a new contract.

Alderson declined to say yesterday if contact had been made, but a person close to the situation said the Reyes camp has not heard from the Mets.

Another source indicated Alderson was preoccupied with the recent draft and will likely soon contact Reyes’ agents.

The price tag probably increased yesterday with Reyes finishing 3-for-5, including his second home run in three days. It came on an afternoon Chris Capuano fired seven shutout innings, allowing the Mets (32-33) to reach the cusp of .500 for the third time in less than a week.

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the seventh, then broke open the game by scoring four runs in the eighth.

Singles by Willie Harris and Reyes with two outs preceded an RBI double by Justin Turner off Kevin Correia (8-5), and Beltran brought home two more with a single against Chris Resop. Angel Pagan’s RBI single made it 5-0.

After Scott Hairston homered in the ninth, Reyes followed suit — giving him three hits in four innings after being silenced in his first two at-bats.

“We blamed [Reyes] for the slow start today because he didn’t get on his first at-bat,” manager Terry Collins joked.

Reyes leads the NL in batting average (.346), hits (94), multi-hit games (33) and triples (11). He also might be the league MVP to this point.

“I feel very comfortable,” Reyes said. “I think what’s helped me out a lot is I hit the ball to the other way more. I don’t try to do too much. I just try to stay through the middle, and when they come inside I try to hit it hard, too.”

Jason Bay, a day after snapping an 0-for-24 drought, showed further life with a solid single in the fifth after Correia had retired the first 14 hitters he faced. Bay also had a sacrifice fly — his first RBI in June — that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the seventh.

There was initial confusion on whether the run actually counted, after Pagan was called out for rounding second base and failing to touch the bag on his way back to first.

Collins originally thought Daniel Murphy, who raced home on Bay’s sacrifice fly, had been called out for leaving third too early. Then there was confusion over whether Murphy scored before Pagan was called out.

“The way it’s been going, if I had to pick one I thought, [the run] was coming off the board,” Bay said. “Somebody was saying the run is going to count, and at that point, I’m not believing it’s counting until it actually counts.”

mpuma@nypost.com