Braves 6

Mets 3

ATLANTA – If these Mets really want to be ambitious, the 1962 club started 0-9. Here’s to the dream.

There is only one winless team in baseball, folks, and it just happens to be the $100 million-plus Mets. They’re 0-5 after last night’s 6-3 loss to the Braves and appear poised to challenge their franchise mark for early-season futility.

Only three other Mets teams had ever started 0-4, and the last one to do it was the 1964 outfit, which began 0-4. So only two benchmarks remain for this year’s crop. Next up is the 1963 group, which began 0-8. And then of course, the ’62 version.

For the Mets players right now, answers and explanations to what’s going on are hard to come by.

“I’m as blank as you all,” Cliff Floyd said.

Fall again today and the Mets will ensure humiliation tomorrow, coming home at 0-6 for the season opener at Shea. They’d also ensure that they’d have to basically buck history in order to make the playoffs.

Consider that in the 36 years since baseball began divisional play in 1969, only two clubs have ever started the season 0-6 and made the playoffs – the 1974 Pirates and the 1995 Reds, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“It’s been rough, these five games. But we’re going to get out of this,” Carlos Beltran said. “We’re going through a test and it’s a big test. You’ve got to take it like a man.”

At least today the Mets have Pedro Martinez going, which could explain why manager Willie Randolph remains confident about finally getting his first victory.

“We’ll get it [today] and go back home and hopefully get a little energy from our fans and just get it turned around,” Randolph said. “Sometimes momentum is a funny thing.”

Of course, the Braves will counter today with John Smoltz. And, by the way: five games into the season, the Mets are already four games behind Atlanta.

Last night’s problems were simple enough: Aaron Heilman pitched and the Mets didn’t hit.

Heilman, taking the mound instead of the injured Kris Benson, put the Mets in a quick four-run hole, surrendering five runs in five innings; he now owns a career major league ERA of 6.50 in 20 games.

Heilman actually became the first Mets starter this year to not allow at least two runs in the opening frame. But really, he was just an inning late.

Heilman promptly began the second by loading the bases on a single, double and infield single (though David Wright should have made the play on the latter). That loaded the bases for Brian Jordan, who slammed a fastball over the center field wall for a grand slam and a 4-0 Braves lead.

“It definitely wasn’t the pitch I wanted to throw in the location I wanted to throw it in,” Heilman said.

The Mets never recovered and have now not led a game in 36 innings. They’ve also scored just five runs in their last three games, and last night they went 2-for-17 with men on base and 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Still, the team continues to remain calm. Before yesterday’s game, GM Omar Minaya made it clear that he doesn’t like to lose, but also talked about the longevity of the season.

Randolph, too, continues not to worry, citing his 30-plus years in the game (“I’m the wrong person to talk to about panicking,” he said). But the first-year manager also acknowledges that the losing going on now is different from defeats he’s experienced in the past.

“You feel it a little bit more because it’s your team,” he said. “Obviously as a manager, I’m responsible for how this team does.”

Right now, things could be better.