NEW YORK -- Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil found himself in the worst slump of his career. Entering Friday, he was 29-for-152 (.191) since May 1 and saw his season batting average dip to .213.

Perhaps McNeil¡¯s game against the Astros on Friday night is a sign that the one-time batting champion will have a great second half. In fact, his three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning helped New York defeat the Astros, 7-2, at Citi Field in the series opener.

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The Mets have won four consecutive games and find themselves a game over .500 (40-39) for the first time since May 2, when they were 16-15.

¡°We are playing good baseball right now,¡± Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. ¡°The approach is one day at a time, one pitch at a time and one series at a time. I¡¯m going to continue to say that. We still have ways to go, but I like ¡­ the way we are going about our business.¡±

The game was tied, 2-2, when the middle of the Mets¡¯ order faced Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Pete Alonso swung at a 1-2 changeup and hit the ball over the left-center-field wall to give New York a one-run lead.

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Four batters later, the Mets had runners at the corners with two outs when McNeil came to the plate. He saw eight pitches from Blanco and worked the count to 2-2 before he hit a changeup over the right-field wall for a three-run homer. At first, McNeil didn¡¯t think the ball would go over the fence. He thought it would land in the right-field corner for extra bases.

¡°Sometimes you need something like that to get going,¡± said McNeil, who had three hits to lift his batting average to .221. ¡°It¡¯s nice to have a hit under my belt. I just wanted to drive the run in. I put a good swing on it.¡±

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McNeil acknowledged his visible frustrations at the plate. If he popped up, for example, he would slam his bat to the ground. For a long time, he couldn¡¯t pinpoint what the problems were.

But McNeil had recent conversations with Carlos Beltr¨¢n, a special assistant in the Mets¡¯ front office; teammate J.D. Martinez; and hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes. McNeil believes he found his swing and it started with the two-game series this week against the Yankees. He is 5-for-12 in his past three games.

¡°We were kind of digging deep, trying to figure out what exactly it is,¡± McNeil said. ¡°I¡¯m a feel hitter. I need to have a good thought at the plate, kind of what I¡¯m doing. I think I¡¯ve finally found that right now. So I¡¯m going to ride with it and, hopefully, keep doing it.¡±

No matter how bad it was for McNeil, Mendoza kept telling the media that McNeil was his starting second baseman. That was true even when Jose Iglesias got off to a great start while starting at second base during the month of June.

¡°He has been great with me. I¡¯ve had a few conversations with him, just trying to get going,¡± McNeil said about Mendoza. ¡°It has been a fantastic relationship. I know they have confidence in me.

¡°It has been kind of tough. I haven¡¯t been in the best place. From here on out, I can play extremely good baseball, help this team to a lot of wins and, hopefully, a good postseason run.¡±

McNeil¡¯s enthusiasm running around the bases during the home run against the Astros told the story. This may be the start of a great second half.

¡°He needed it,¡± Mendoza said. ¡°I¡¯ve been saying, I like the at-bats of late. And today, [he is] finally getting the results. Obviously, the three-run homer there, it was huge. Credit to him. He is fighting. To go out there today and have a night like that, he needed it. Good to see it.¡±