FLUSHING, NY – Maybe for sanity reasons, the 8-2 Met drubbing of the Seattle Mariners was a welcome and needed event. Sure, you get your laughers every once in a while, but this season those easy wins just seem to be few and far between.

“For a manager, that’s what you hope for, a relaxing game,” said interim manager Jerry Manuel. “But no game is totally relaxing because you have to wait to the last out. For us to get those runs early in the manner on which we got them was very good.”

It was the type of game Manuel hoped for after he called an infield drill and stretching session at 4:00 p.m. and his hero was the guy he gave some rest yesterday, as David Wright hit two home runs to pretty much put the game away in the second.

This is what Manuel needs to get jump started. After playing down to the Mariners in the first two games of the series, the Mets proved there were the better team tonight from the opening pitch. John Maine pitched into the seventh with Wright and Jose Reyes jumpstarted the offense. If Manuel can bottle that formula, he would because it’s the best possible way for the Mets to pile up the wins.

With the type of starting staff on this team, there’s no reason for Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen to expect a cheap outing. Each of the starters can toss 110-120 pitches a game and when they are stretched out, the bullpen will get the rest it will need to stay fresh over the second half.

Then there’s the offense, which has been a sore spot over the last few days. With too many bench players starting and disappointments on the right side of the infield, the Mets need Wright, Reyes and Carlos Beltran to come through in the big spots. Those three have the ability to take over contests and keep the Mets on offense on track, while mending outfielders Ryan Church and Moises Alou work their way back into the lineup.

If Jerry Ball works, then the Mets will have a chance to win a weak division, where there are no clear cut leaders and no team seems ready to seize the opportunity before it.

Yet, it needs to continue and with the Yankees coming in this weekend, it just may. The baseball gods seem to have shined on the Mets with both Joba Chamberlain and Mike Mussina missing the series. The Mets will see Dan Giese and Sidney Ponson in the doubleheader on Friday and with the new Mike Pelfrey and Pedro Martinez on the mound for the Amazins’ it could be the beginning of a nice weekend.

With both the Cardinals and Phillies to follow, this is make or break time at Shea.

“It’s going to be a good stretch for us,” Manuel said. “It’s always somewhat dangerous when you come off an emotional series like the one against the cross-town rivals. And then you are chasing Philadelphia. We have to get up emotionally and stay that way for two weeks. Especially playing these teams, it’s going to be important for us.”

Maybe just as important as an 8-2 laugher against the worst team in baseball.