WASHINGTON – Carlos Beltran didn’t have to worry about a curtain call after his homer yesterday since the Mets were on the road. He also doesn’t need to worry about the way he’s swinging the bat either.

Beltran continued his strong play yesterday in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Nationals, going 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk.

Beltran’s homer -his second this season – was a two-run ninth-inning shot off the upper-deck fagade in right against Washington reliever Felix Rodriguez.

Obviously, David Wright has been the Mets’ best hitter this year, while Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Xavier Nady and Paul Lo Duca have hit well, too. But after his terrible start in 2006, Beltran is joining them in their success.

Beltran began the year 0-for-9. Since then, he’s gone 5-for-12 and his average is up to .238.

Meanwhile, with six walks in six games, Beltran’s on-base percentage is .393. He’s also tied for second on the team with seven RBIs (Wright has 10, while Reyes also has seven) and he leads the team with nine runs scored.

Beltran has been seeing a lot of pitches this year, and, in fact, heading into yesterday, he led the NL with 4.87 pitches per plate appearance. Last year, he saw 3.78 pitches per plate appearance.

He looks better at the plate.

“I’m healthy, my man,” he said after yesterday’s game. “When you’re healthy, you’re going to feel good. That’s the way it is. Sometimes you’re going to have good games, and sometimes you’re going to have bad games, but the main thing is staying healthy the whole season. That’s my goal for this year.”

In the first inning yesterday, Beltran lined out to first, starting a double play. He singled to start the Mets’ rally in the fourth, though, scoring the first run of the game on Wright’s double. Beltran drew a four-pitch walk in the fifth, popped out in the seventh and drove his two-run shot in the ninth.

It was a strong day for Beltran and his best game of the season.