MET NOTES

When Cliff Floyd stepped to the plate in the second inning last night, he saw the Phillies move into a drastic shift.

Floyd proceeded to smoke a ball into shallow right, but second baseman Chase Utley was playing in the outfield and threw Floyd out after fielding the ball on one hop.

His next two times up, the Met left fielder exacted revenge. He singled up the middle in the fourth and blasted his 21st homer of the season in the sixth.

“All you can do is hit the ball hard,” he said after the 6-3 loss to Philly. “I’m not going to worry about where they’re playing me. Because the minute you start thinking about where they’re playing you, you start to getting into trying to do too much.” . . . Floyd was asked if he’s thinking about the All-Star Game. He’s not among league leaders and would have to be selected by the coaching staff.

“No, what motivates me more so right now is just trying to win,” he said. “I could care less about thinking about the All-Star Game.

“Don’t get me wrong; it’s an honor. . . . Those type of things, as we all found out a couple years ago, are out of your hands,” Floyd said, alluding to the controversy in 2001 with Bobby Valentine.

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Miguel Cairo (strained left hamstring) went 1-for-4 with a single as the DH for Class A St. Lucie last night.

Cairo is eligible to return today, but it looks like he won’t return until tomorrow at the earliest because his rehab game was rained out on Tuesday night.

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Met GM Omar Minaya said the club has begun discussions with first-round pick Mike Pelfrey, but there hasn’t been substantive progress. Minaya held out the possibility Pelfrey could begin his pro career this season.