THIS was not on the mound, but rather in the clubhouse. Yet it made no difference. For the delivery from Pedro Martinez was, as always, accompanied by a purpose.

The scene in the aftermath of the Mets’ 6-5 victory over the Braves at Shea yesterday afternoon resembled one of those Congressional hearings in which Senators demand to know what (fill in the blank) knew and when he knew it, and the witnesses raise their right hands before testifying that they knew nothing . . . nothing!

We had a taste of Victorgate yesterday when Victor Zambrano sprinted off the mound after striking out Andruw Jones for the first out of the second inning. This was two pitches after having sworn to Willie Randolph that he was absolutely perfectly fine when the manager went to the mound to visit with the pitcher after Sandy Alomar said he noticed the pitcher was “grimacing.”

Zambrano, often better known as the dud the Mets acquired from Tampa Bay in exchange for Scott Kazmir, has had forearm and hamstring problems, and now he has an elbow problem that sounds rather ominous. And, to hear some of his teammates tell it, they knew before the game that Zambrano had issues even if no one on the staff did.

Randolph said he knew nothing. Omar Minaya said he knew nothing. There’s not only no reason in the world not to believe them, there’s no reason in the world to believe the Mets would have placed Zambrano in harm’s way. Impossible.

The question, therefore, becomes not so much what the Mets knew, but what Zambrano knew; more than that, it becomes why Zambrano would have risked serious injury to start the 30th game of a 162-game season?

That’s where Martinez enters the story. That’s where Martinez supplies an interpretation of events as unique as his mixture of pitches. Only difference is, this came straight down the middle.

“You guys [in the press] put so much pressure on him, that’s why he pitched [even though he was hurt],” said Martinez, who is Zambrano’s closest friend on the team. “You ask for perfection and for velocity, you demand so many things.

“Some handle it better than others. Before you hurt a guy, you should do a little research. We’re human beings. Have a little more respect.”

Martinez said he was unaware that Zambrano’s elbow was hurting before he took the mound for his fifth start (“Had I known, I would have stopped him from pitching”), but some Mets sure did. Darren Oliver, who relieved Zambrano under emergency conditions, said he wasn’t surprised to enter the game under those circumstances, then gave only cryptic responses to follow-up questions.

Martinez said, “Some guys after warmup said that he should come out,” but Ramon Castro, who caught the game and Zambrano’s warmup, said he didn’t notice anything amiss, except that the pitcher hadn’t used his slider in the pregame bullpen session.

It seems Zambrano always is auditioning to hold his spot in the rotation for the 21-9 Mets, who increased their lead over the 14-time division champion Braves to nine games. It seems he’s always fighting the ghost of Kazmir.

That doesn’t excuse yesterday. That doesn’t excuse him from taking the mound with, worse than the pain in his elbow, rocks in his head.