MET NOTES

Something had to give. Todd Zeile hadn’t used somebody else’s bat since 1995, but he says he’s never hit fewer flyballs in his career.

So the Met first baseman went to a bat that was a half-inch shorter and two inches lighter, with decent results. Wielding wood from teammate Robin Ventura, Zeile hit his seventh homer of the season in Friday night’s 4-3 victory over San Francisco.

“I felt like I was getting close to the ball and fouling them back,” Zeile said of his season-long slump. “Up to about three weeks ago, I was hitting fewer flyballs than I ever had in my career.

“I started trying to figure out if it had something to do with my elbow. I don’t know if I was cutting my swing off and not driving the ball straight-away like I have.”

In the third inning against Giant left-hander Kirk Rueter, Zeile drove the ball to left. He took an off-speed pitch from Rueter and drove it high and deep into the visitor’s bullpen. Zeile is batting .261 with 47 RBIs. In August his average is .242.

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Speaking of bats: one reason Barry Bonds is hitting home runs at a record pace may be the type of wood he’s using. Bonds is swinging a maple stick, as opposed to the traditional ash bats players have used for decades.

“I think it’s the soldier, not the product,” Bonds said. “But the product has helped the soldier.

“If you find a good bat, you can use it for a while. There’s a difference between maple wood and ash wood. Ash is not as condensed, chips a little bit. So with maple, if you get a good bat, you can hang on to it a lot longer and feel comfortable. And it helps your confidence.”

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Yet another reminder: today’s Mets-Giants tilt begins at 8:10 p.m., to accommodate ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. It was originally slated for 1:10 p.m.