Willie Randolph could claim all he wanted that Carlos Delgado wasn’t in a slump, but the first baseman knew better. His guesses at the plate were off, his timing was shot, his swing had gone to – well, junk. Only his words were far stronger.

But that has all changed in the last half-dozen games, as he’s worked his way out of whatever funk had plagued him and back to his early-season form when he carried the Mets.

His two-home run game Tuesday made him only the 10th active player with 400 home runs, and was a tantalizing reminder of what he can be.

“He’s still one of the best hitters in the game and what he’s doing shows it,” Randolph said before last night’s tilt vs. St. Louis.

“Once he gets in a groove, he can be nasty. I always say you may go through a funk, but when you come out, make sure you get some payback. Hopefully it’s time to get payback.” Delgado took his payback out of the hide of pitcher Jeff Weaver Tuesday, staging an impromptu home-run derby with reigning NL MVP Albert Pujols. Each hit two homers, including grand slams, but Delgado got the 8-7 win.

“It’s about getting the pitch you want to hit,” Randolph said.

“Lately he’s been staying back better; mechanically, he was getting out in front. He’s been staying back better.” Delgado is 9-for-18 with seven runs scored, five home runs and a dozen RBIs in his last five games – not surprisingly, all Mets victories.

Not bad for a guy who was mired in an 0-17 slump as of Aug. 16. The very next day he went deep twice in a 7-2 win in Philadelphia, his first longballs in 63 plate appearances, dating back 17 games to July 30.

“I wasn’t swinging good. I’m not going to lie. For a couple months I was struggling. Sometimes your swing goes to [junk], and you just have to find a way to get it back,” said Delgado, whose 31 homers made him only the fourth man ever with 10 straight 30homer seasons.

“It was just timing. You might swing too early when you’re not covering your strike zone, not getting to the fastball. Your natural reaction is to jump out there, and next thing you know you can’t hit the fastball or the breaking ball. But at the end of the road trip I was putting together good at-bats.”