After Mike Cameron blasted a two-out double off the left field wall in the seventh inning to give the Mets a 3-1 lead yesterday, he considered keeping the ball.

“I almost called time out to have them throw the ball back to me,” Cameron said after the Mets held on for a 3-2 win over the Expos at Shea Stadium to end a disappointing homestand. “I didn’t know if I would ever get another hit.”

Cameron’s relief was understandable. The center fielder has been slumping of late and yesterday was on the verge of having a bad day of virtually historic proportions. Through his first three at-bats, Cameron had gone 0-for-3; worse, he had left seven men on base.

“It was definitely frustrating,” Cameron said. “At times, you go up there and you think too much and become too mechanical. That’s what I was doing.”

The results weren’t pretty. He struck out with the bases loaded in the first when the Mets failed to score despite putting the first three batters on.

Two innings later, Cameron grounded out to second, stranding Mike Piazza at third. Cameron followed that by flying harmlessly to center on the first pitch with the bases juiced and two out again in the fifth.

“I was looking at the edges too much,” Cameron said. “You start being concerned with every little thing and sometimes you just have to go back, take out everything else and attack. It just seemed like I couldn’t get a break.”

That’s something the entire lineup had trouble doing on this homestand, when the Mets consistently struggled to get runs. Cameron hopes that his double, combined with Piazza’s run-scoring double two batters prior, helps get the team out of its rut.

“If we just start playing and relax, the hits will come,” said Cameron, who entering yesterday’s game was in a 5-for-29 slump that lowered his average to .235 and dropped him to sixth in the lineup. “As bad as it’s going for us, we finally found a way to win.”

At this point, that’s plenty for the Mets.

“This has been tough for all of us,” Cameron said. “It can be hard to handle. Especially today, leaving all those guys on base, I was getting antsy trying to get them home.”

But instead of continuing to press, Cameron went back to basics.

“I was trying to be too perfect,” Cameron said. “The last time up, I just thought about getting the head [of the bat] out there. I was looking for something in the middle and I got it.”

He’d rather not have to leave nearly an entire lineup on base before he figures it out again.

“We’re all showing signs,” Cameron said. “It’s not much, but it’s a start.”