Jose Offerman is just trying to stick around. But since the Mets called him up from Norfolk earlier this week to fill the spot left open when Doug Mientkiewicz went on the DL with a strained right hamstring, Offerman has been absolutely perfect. He’s batting a thousand.

Really. In two appearances in a Mets uniform this week, Offerman is a sparkling 2-for-2 as a pinch hitter. Last night, in his second at-bat with the team, Offerman went yard, hitting for Aaron Heilman in the bottom of the fifth inning. Offerman, 36, clubbed his fifth home run of the year over the right-field fence to cut the Philadelphia lead to 6-2. The Mets lost, 6-3, on a night Kaz Ishii walked half of Queens.

It’s unlikely the Mets will entertain a battle of pinch hitters once Mientkiewicz returns to first base. But should the team decide to keep Offerman up (Brian Daubach hasn’t done much) they’ll have arguably the two best pinch hitters in baseball competing for that spot off the bench.

Marlon Anderson has been rock-solid as a part of Willie Randolph’s capable bench brigade. While Offerman led the majors with a .414 pinch-hit batting average last year with the Twins, Anderson tied for the NL lead with 17 hits off the bench last season with the Cardinals.

This year, Anderson – who has filled in with both second basemen Kaz Matsui and Miguel Cairo on the DL – is leading the majors with 13 hits and a .433 average as a pinch hitter. He was responsible for one of the memorable highlights of the season when he tied an eventual extra-innings win against the Angels with a pinch-hit, inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Offerman made his Mets debut Tuesday night and recorded a pinch-hit RBI single in the fifth inning against the Phillies in an 8-3 win.