PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Having Reached .500, the Mets Talk About Contending in the East

The Mets, who reached .500 for the first time since June 10 with their victory Friday, no longer are talking about respectability. They are talking about the possibility of winning the National League East.

The Mets are only four games behind the fading division-leading Pittsburgh Pirates.

“We’re poised perfectly for a run,” Met pitcher David Cone said. “Who would think that a team at .500 would be in perfect position to make a run? It’s there for the taking. It might as well be us.”

Said Met first baseman Dave Magadan: “I think we have a different attitude. We’re playing with more confidence. We all have reached the point where we’re just saying, ‘Bleep it,’ you know?

“We should just have the attitude where we’ve got nothing to lose, which we don’t, because we were already down at the bottom.”

The Mets’ have won six of seven games, and the Pirates have played two games below .500 since the end of the April.

“We just haven’t had the mental toughness,” Met left fielder Howard Johnson said. “When you win four out of five, and five out of six, and you don’t pick up any ground, you get frustrated.

“It seems like in the past, we’d put together a mini-run and Pittsburgh would match us. This time, we’re gaining ground with our efforts. From a psychological standpoint, that’s going to be a real lift.”

Life of an Umpire Dept.: Jerry Layne, the first-base umpire who blew a call in the Padres’ game Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies, received a surprise package Wednesday morning.

The hotel bellman brought up a sack full of carrots, courtesy of a Philadelphia radio station.

Bob Davidson, the first-base umpire in Friday’s game with the Padres, swears it’s a true story.

Padre starter Dave Eiland, who has not pitched since July 4 after straining a tendon in his right ankle, pitched a simulated game Friday and pronounced himself fit for Tuesday’s start against the Cincinnati Reds.

“This is the best I’ve felt since the injury,” Eiland said. “I felt great out there. It never bothered me throwing off the mound, anyway, but it bit me every time I pushed off the mound and covered the bag.

“Now, I’m fine and ready to go.”

There’s only one catch.

The Padres aren’t sure whether they want Eiland back right now. Jim Deshaies, Eiland’s replacement, has yielded only seven hits and two earned runs in 12 2/3 innings in his two starts. The Phillies batted only .171 in the two games he started.

“We’re going to decide what direction we’re going to go in the next couple of days,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “We really haven’t had a chance to see what he could do.”

The Padres are expected to allow Deshaies to make one more start before deciding Eiland’s fate.

New York Met broadcaster Ralph Kiner, who along with the Padres’ Jerry Coleman have become famous for their malapropisms, came up with this recent beauty.

When the Expos’ Matt Stairs came to bat against the Mets, Kiner reported: “Matt Stairs led the league in hitting in two different countries last year--the Mexican League and the Eastern League.”

Although Padre infielder Tim Teufel’s charity golf tournament Thursday was rained out after five holes, he still raised $60,000 for the Leukemia Society of America.

“A lot of credit for the success of the tournament goes to (Met pitching coach) Mel Stottlemyre, who lost a child to leukemia,” Teufel said. “He’s been a driving force in the efforts to help find a cure for this tragic killer.”

The Mets delayed their decision to activate center fielder Vince Coleman, who has been on the disabled list five times in the 1 1/2 years since signing with the Mets.

Coleman has missed 65 of the Mets’ 96 games this season with various injuries, and 155 of 258 games since the start of the 1991 season.

Statistic of the Day: The Mets have used 13 center fielders since trading away Lenny Dykstra on June 18, 1989, and Mookie Wilson on July 31, 1989.

Runner-up: When Cone gave up five runs and was the winning pitcher Wednesday against the Dodgers, it was the first time since Sept. 2, 1990 that he won a game yielding more than three runs. That’s a span of 60 starts.

Mike Linskey of the Padres’ double-A affiliate in Wichita carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning Thursday against Jackson. He finished the game with a one-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking one.

Not a bad showing considering the boss, Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine, was on hand for the game.