Mets 5

Giants 1

It seemed incomprehensible at the time: Carlos Beltran laying down a sacrifice.

After all, Beltran is the Mets’ $119 Million Man. His decision in the fifth inning yesterday seemed like a bone-headed move to shirk the responsibility of driving in runs.

A funny thing happened, though, when Beltran laid down his bunt with runners at first and second and nobody out: The next three hitters rapped base hits, and the Mets scored three times on their way to a 5-1 victory over the Giants.

“I thought he was crazy, actually,” Mike Piazza said.

Beltran was crazy like a fox. On a glorious June afternoon at Shea Stadium, Tom Glavine stifled San Francisco for 72/3 innings (his longest outing of the season), and Piazza followed Beltran’s bunt by dumping a two-run RBI single into left to unknot a 1-1 deadlock.

Beltran’s move exemplified that the “New Mets” will do things unconventionally, but all in the name of one thing.

“I really care about winning,” Beltran said. “That’s the way I play the game.

“I know I’m the third hitter, I know a lot of people expect me to hit home runs or doubles, but the way I like to play the game is like that.

“I like to play the little game. I think you win a lot of ballgames when you play the little game.”

After the Mets (29-26) won their third straight, sixth in eight games, Glavine (4-5) was asked if he was “fixed” from early-season struggles. He notched his fourth quality start in his past five outings with a classic performance.

“Let’s just say I’m a lot more consistent,” he said.

Beltran entered the day hitting 50 points higher than Piazza (.294-.244), yet gave himself up against lefty Noah Lowry after the Mets had opened the fifth on Jose Reyes’ double high off the fence in left-center and Mike Cameron’s four-pitch walk.

Beltran made up his mind when Cameron walked. It was a well-executed bunt, and if Beltran was at full strength and not nursing a strained right quad, he might’ve beaten it out and loaded the bases for Piazza.

“I don’t think because Carlos Beltran makes a lot of money and we expect him to hit home runs all the time, that’s not really all he can do,” Willie Randolph said. “The bottom line is I don’t have a problem with it.”

Piazza worked the count full and reached for an outside pitch, pulling it into shallow left. Reyes was unsure whether the ball would drop, but Cameron had an excellent break behind him and both players scored easily.

Cliff Floyd followed with a sharp single to left-center, and David Wright’s RBI single to left gave the Mets a 4-1 lead.

The only offense the Giants mustered during their eighth straight loss was a fourth-inning homer from Moises Alou, who absolutely tattooed a Glavine changeup 420 feet to left. Alou’s 10th homer of the season hit the back fence of the visitors’ bullpen.

Cameron staked Glavine to a 1-0 lead with a monster shot over the fence in right-center in the first, continuing his 2005 tear with his seventh homer. But Glavine worked like he was pitching with a 10-run lead, masterfully keeping the Giants off-balance.

With two outs and one on in the eighth, Glavine exited for Roberto Hernandez and answered a rousing ovation from 37,194 with a brief tip of the cap. Hernandez escaped a jam, the Mets tacked on another run in the eighth, and Aaron Heilman finished the game.

“It’s nice,” Glavine said of his ovation. “It’s much better than the alternative.”