Jae Seo pitched one of the best games of his career and got a ticket to the minors. Streaking slugger Cliff Floyd made one of the best catches of his life and earned an “MVP!” chant.

Seo allowed one hit in seven shutout innings, and Floyd homered and saved two runs with a spectacular grab to lead the Mets past the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 last night.

Despite the stellar performance, Seo was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after the game to make room for right-hander Kris Benson, who will come off the disabled list today and make his first start of the season.

“Maybe if he threw a no-hitter, I might have had second thoughts. Certainly a perfect game, that’s really impressive,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said.

Victor Diaz also connected to end a long slump, and Floyd added an RBI single as the Mets’ won for the third time in four games following a four game losing streak.

Chase Utley and Bobby Abreu hit consecutive homers off Braden Looper in the ninth, but the last-place Phillies have dropped 10 of 15 overall.

Changing speeds and mixing pitches beautifully, Seo (2-1) held Philadelphia hitless until David Bell’s single to left in the fifth. The right-hander matched a career high with eight strikeouts and walked two. Roberto Hernandez pitched a perfect eighth, and Looper finished the three-hitter for his fifth save in seven chances.

After giving up the two homers, Looper struck out Pat Burrell and Jason Michaels to end it.

With a runner on and one out in the seventh, Michaels sent a drive to deep left field. Floyd calmly retreated to the wall, leaped, and robbed Michaels of a two-run homer that would have cut the Mets’ lead to 3-2.

“Defense is not my forte, but I take pride in it anyway,” Floyd said. “I usually leave that stuff to [Mike] Cameron, Andruw Jones, and Torii Hunter. I think that’s the first catch I’ve ever made like that.”

It prompted the Shea Stadium crowd of 21,356 to begin chanting “MVP! MVP!” for Floyd – albeit a bit early in the season.

Floyd also extended his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games, longest in the majors this year, and boosted his batting average to .391 with eight homers and 25 RBI.

“I was chanting Get Him Out!” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Seo fanned seven in the first four innings, including Utley, Abreu, and Burrell in succession in the fourth. Seo has a 2.00 ERA in three starts this season, yet he wasn’t upset by the demotion.

“I understand that Benson is coming up here and I have to go back down. I accept that,” Seo said through a translator. “I’m not really feeling shocked by anything management has done.”

Phillies starter Randy Wolf (1-4) entered 5-0 with a 1.99 ERA in his career at Shea. He pitched pretty well but couldn’t match Seo, allowing three runs, five hits, and four walks in seven innings.

Diaz hit his fourth homer leading off the third, snapping an 0-for-21 slump that included three strikeouts Tuesday night. With Cameron also coming off the disabled list today, Diaz could have been ticketed for the minors, too. But he’s sticking around – reliever Royce Ring was optioned to Norfolk instead.