For the first time in almost two months, Carlos Beltran is playing without pain, and that may translate into him really inflicting some on enemy pitching.

Beltran has no ache in his right leg after he had eight CC’s of fluid drained from his strained right quad during Monday’s day off. He woke up Tuesday, reached for the leg like he does every morning, but for the first time, he said, he finally felt no pain.

Later that day against the Phillies, Beltran went 2-for-5 with a double and slapped his first triple as a Met in an 8-3 win in which he scored a run and knocked another across the plate.

“He’s coming,” Cliff Floyd said. “I know a little about legs, and it’s not easy to overcome. We all know when he’s healthy he’ll do some stuff for us. Even when he ain’t healthy, he’s been doing stuff for us.”

The injury clearly impeded Beltran for the better part of the last two months, but that hasn’t stopped him from making some circus catches in center or chipping in with his potent bat. Going into last night’s game against the Phillies at Shea, Beltran was hitting .265 with nine home runs and 38 RBIs.

“I felt good at the plate,” Beltran said. “I’m letting the ball get to me. [Tuesday] was a good example, how I was able to stay back.”

Beltran, third in the NL in outfield votes for the All-Star Game, expects to have a bigger impact on the Mets now that his balky quad is in the past.

“It seems like he’s getting stronger and stronger going after balls,” manager Willie Randolph said. “His stride is just more fluid and he just looks speedier to the ball.”

Through the first 76 games, Beltran didn’t lead the Mets in any offensive category, which is not something the team had in mind when it signed him to a seven-year, $119 million contract.

But one of the first differences we could see is Beltran stealing bases. Going into last night, Beltran had stolen only one base, which tied him with backup catcher Ramon Castro.

Since 2002, Beltran hasn’t had fewer than 35 steals in a single season.

“He has the green light,” Randolph said.