Maybe there’s something in the Flushing air that gets to Armando Benitez. Whatever the case, no matter how dominant the San Francisco closer had been this year, yesterday he did the same things Mets fans derisively said he did when he pitched for the Amazin’s: Pitch poorly and blow saves.

Benitez gave up a pair of home runs in the 10th inning, only to be bailed out as his Giants beat the Mets 7-6 in 12 frames.

He had been unscored upon in 11 of 12 outings since being activated from the disabled list, with a miniscule 0.73 ERA and the second-lowest batting average against of any active pitcher; but none of that stopped Jose Valentin and Lastings Milledge from hitting solo home runs off him.

The first was out to right and the second off a 1-2, 96 mph fastball Milledge deposited in the visiting bullpen. For a pitcher whose eight blown saves in 2003 – including seven with the Mets, the second-worst in the NL – got him shipped out of Shea, it was a familiar sight.

What nobody had seen was Milledge’s show that followed. After he rounded first with his index finger pointed skyward, he came out to a curtain call and then jogged out to right field for the 11th, slapping high-fives with dozens of fans leaning over the railing.

“What do you want me to do?” Benitez shrugged. “I was fine. He high-fived. He hit it out. Maybe he got lucky, that’s it. He’s playing here because you know what he can do. He hit a good pitch, fastball high. Hey, that’s it. Maybe it’s the last one he hits off me.”

The rest of the Giants weren’t as philosophical about Milledge’s antics, or even Jose Reyes’ dancing around on the third base line.

“We weren’t too happy about that,” said lefty reliever Steve Kline. “That’s a big day for him but he knows it wasn’t right; he was just caught up in the moment. I think it was just a quick leap-to-fame kind of thing. After he’s 0-15 and the New York fans start booing him, we’ll see if he goes down the line and slaps them five then.

“But in the heat of the moment you can never blame a kid. He knows better. I bet his guys talked to him and told him not to do that. At first (we were mad), but we’re trying to win the game. The etiquette is important but that comes later. You just don’t show a guy up. He knows. He knows he did wrong.”

Manager Felipe Alou was diplomatic, saying, “Just like Reyes, the show he put on at third base. We can’t control what other plays do around the league. They have to be controlled at the other end. Otherwise the big leagues will take care of that.”