CityGuy

NEW YORK (AP) -- With their pitching staff in tatters, the free-falling Mets are flirting with a historic collapse.

New York wasted two homers by Carlos Beltran and another from Moises Alou, blowing a five-run cushion Wednesday night in a 9-6 loss to the Washington Nationals that sliced its NL East lead to one game over Philadelphia with four to play.

"It's hard to believe," Beltran said. "Unbelievable."

The Phillies, who beat Atlanta 5-2, haven't been this close to first place since they lost on Opening Day. It's the Mets' slimmest margin since they were a half-game in front before play on May 17.

New York led by seven games, with 17 to play, after beating Atlanta on Sept. 12. No major league team has failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game advantage with 17 remaining.

"We all feel terrible for ourselves as a team right now that we can't really close the deal," manager Willie Randolph said. "But we still have time. We're not giving in."

Betrayed by a brutal bullpen and ineffective starting pitching, New York has dropped six straight home games and nine of 13 overall.

Fans have started to turn on the not-so-Amazin's, too. Many in the crowd of 51,940 booed throughout the late innings as New York flopped once more against a fourth-place team.

"It's late in the season, guys are tired, we're running on fumes," David Wright said. "It's not an excuse. We need to go out there and finish strong and dig down deep and really do some soul-searching because we're going to have to finish with a flurry."

Ryan Church homered and drove in four runs for the feisty Nationals, who completed a three-game sweep at Shea Stadium and improved to 5-1 against the Mets in a 10-day span.

Washington (72-87) surpassed last year's win total, split the season series with the Mets 9-all and clinched a winning record in September for the second consecutive year.

After a six-run rally in the ninth inning Tuesday left the Mets just short in a 10-9 loss, they jumped out quickly in this one.

Beltran and Alou hit consecutive homers in the first inning and the Mets built a 5-0 cushion after three. They handed it to Philip Humber, who made his first major league start because New York still wants to give Pedro Martinez extra rest between outings after his return from shoulder surgery.

The Mets said they tabbed Humber in this pressure-packed game because he was the best option available. But after a nice start, he wasn't much help -- and neither was the bullpen.

The Nationals, who began the night with the fewest runs in the majors, scored 57 in their final six games against New York.

"Most of the things that are happening are out of Willie Randolph's hands," said Washington manager Manny Acta, Randolph's third base coach the past two years in New York.

Humber walked the leadoff batter in the fourth, then gave up Church's two-run shot. Alou hit an RBI single in the bottom half, but Humber walked the leadoff man again in the fifth and was pulled after Ronnie Belliard's RBI double.

Another rookie, Joe Smith (3-2), allowed RBI singles to Ryan Zimmerman and Austin Kearns that cut it to 6-5, and Wily Mo Pena's two-run double off Pedro Feliciano put Washington ahead.

Desperate for someone to stem the tide, the Mets brought Orlando Hernandez out of the bullpen in the seventh. He walked two and struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Because of a sore right foot, Hernandez hadn't pitched since he was roughed up by the Braves on Sept. 11 -- and he had worked only six-plus innings since Aug. 26.

He just had the protective boot removed from his foot Monday, and the original plan was for him to throw a simulated game Thursday to help determine if he could possibly be ready by this weekend.

Now, Hernandez will be used out of the bullpen through the first round of the playoffs -- if the Mets get there, Randolph said.

El Duque said his foot was sore after the outing.

Church, a left-handed batter, added a two-run double in the ninth off lefty Billy Wagner.

"We're not scared of losing. What the problem is, is just how bad we're playing," Wagner said. "As good as our bullpen was early, we're that bad right now."

Luis Ayala worked a perfect inning for his first save since May 16, 2005. He missed last season with an elbow injury.

Joel Hanrahan (5-3) got the win, yielding one run in 1 2/3 innings.

Beltran hit a two-run shot off ex-Met Mike Bacsik in the first and Alou followed with his 13th home run, extending his hitting streak to 30 games.

It's the longest streak by a player on a New York team (including Brooklyn) since Joe DiMaggio's record run of 56 games in 1941 with the Yankees.

Beltran's second homer off Bacsik made it 5-0 in the third.

Game notes
It was Beltran's 22nd career multihomer game and fifth this season. He also hit two homers last Wednesday at Washington. ... It was Hernandez's first relief appearance since October 2005 with the Chicago White Sox.

CityGuy

They have lost the past 7 of 11 games and the ironic thing is that in most of those games they have had the early lead but are unable to maintain it.

These NY Mets are entering the postseason in a lot of trouble. They need to get their confidence back or else it will be a long offseason of disappointment!

PaullyInNYC

NEW YORK -- The first inning was fresh, still filled with hope that somehow this team could crawl out of its comatose state and return to its winning ways. Then, before the inning was even over, the Mets' worst fears appeared in right field, glaring at them in bright orange numbers on the scoreboard: PHI 1, ATL 0.

The bad news -- courtesy of the Phillies -- kept at a steady pace Thursday night, as did the Mets' uninspired play. They lost 3-0 to the Cardinals, then lost their division lead for the first time since May 15, a span of 136 days, after the Phillies beat Atlanta.

Now, with three games left to play in this 162-game season, the Mets are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs. They are tied with the Phillies atop the National League East, and it is the defending division champions who appear to have little confidence and a lot of questions.


"When I first got here, I was really excited," said Pedro Martinez who struck out eight over a season-high seven innings but still lost. "Right now, I'm a little worried about how things have developed."

He is not alone. While the players wouldn't acknowledge the scoreboard watching, it was impossible to miss. The results could be seen immediately, and all you had to do was look at the field to witness how blowing a seven-game lead in two weeks manifests itself.


As the Phillies ran up their score -- 4-0 by the end of the first inning and 6-0 by the close of the third -- the Mets were sputtering. Luis Castillo flubbed an easy double play in the first for an error, and the miscues (however minute) continued. Paul Lo Duca didn't even attempt a throw in the third when Ryan Ludwick stole second base after the ball fell out during the transfer.


By then, the Cardinals had built a 3-0 lead, one that seemed surmountable at the time. But the malaise only continued. Cardinals right-hander Joel Pineiro who was once designated for assignment this season, dominated the Mets, giving up three hits in eight innings while allowing only one runner past first base all night, when David Wright doubled in the first inning.


How lifeless were the Mets? Pineiro and closer Jason Isringhausen combined to retire 13 straight, with Isringhausen needing just nine pitches for the ninth inning.


"That usually doesn't happen," Isringhausen said over loud music in the visitors' clubhouse. "Not here, anyway. It must be the full moon."

Before the game, one veteran Mets player said the losing -- especially after three straight losses to the Nationals, a team loaded with four-A talent -- was taxing.


"I'm not getting much sleep," he said. "It's worse than having a two-month-old infant in the room, and you're trying to get sleep. We've got to try and win some ballgames."


To do that, the Mets needed Martinez, pitching with a surgically repaired but diminished shoulder, to be their stopper and savior. Neither happened, though Martinez did all he could to keep his team in the game, giving up three runs and providing the bullpen some rest.


Entering the game, the Mets' bullpen ERA in September was 5.34, the fifth-worst in the NL, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The other four teams with worse ERAs have all been eliminated from postseason contention. Closer Billy Wagner acknowledged before the game that it's been one of the team's recent downfalls.


"There's no such thing as a fan of our bullpen," Wagner said. "We haven't earned that, and we know it."

One NL scout warned that New York's pitching "is in shambles" -- and it's the offense that has remained consistent and potent. The irony is that on this night, the bats went quiet.

While the Mets gave full credit to Pineiro for throwing a good game, and rightfully so, they privately acknowledged that they appear to be a shell of their once-dominant selves.

"Wish I was where they were," Troy Percival, who came out of retirement to pitch this season, said. "Three games left to play to get into the playoffs? I'd take that."

So would most players. But not these Mets. They are not taking any of this well. Many players left quickly after the game, and the ones who remained seemed to be at a loss for explanations.


"We're too good of a team to go down like this," said Moises Alou, whose 30-game hitting streak was snapped. "I came here to have fun and win a championship. Unfortunately, I haven't been having too much fun the past couple of weeks."


As a pack of reporters gathered around Wagner after the game, manager Willie Randolph, sounding a bit desperate, walked by and uttered a few words to no one in particular: "We're gonna win this thing, we're gonna win it."


The question is, how will it happen, and who will step up to do it? No one seemed to have those answers Thursday night. And as all the Mets are very aware, there isn't much time to find them.

PaullyInNYC

If the New York Mets are not in first place by all star break next year I believe manager Willie Randolph will be gone. With about three weeks left in a season and to be up 7 whole games and to lose that is not acceptable especially with the juicy new york media all over! Someone has to take the blame for this historic collapse!

CityGuy

I am still shocked at what the new york mets did. I dont even know what to say about that situation. All I know is that its a huge letdown.

bigapple

does anyone know if tom glavine will be back with the new york mets next season. Its seems like there are rumors of him leaving???

PaullyInNYC

NEW YORK -- Mets pitcher Tom Glavine declined his $13 million option with New York on Friday, making himself eligible for free agency.


The 41-year-old lefty, who got his 300th win this year, gets a $3 million buyout in addition to his $7.5 million salary this year.


"Tom has not had enough time to sufficiently think things through with his family and did not want to make a decision until he the opportunity with them to reflect on his future in baseball as well as his future with the Mets," said Glavine's agent, Gregg Clifton.


Glavine's contract called for him to make a decision by the fifth day after the Mets concluded their season. He went 13-8 with a 4.45 ERA in 34 starts over 200 1/3 innings, fading in his final three outings. He managed only one out while giving up seven runs to Florida in the first inning an 8-1 loss in the season finale Sunday that knocked New York out of postseason contention.


After the 2006 season, Glavine was interested in the possibility of returning to the Braves, but Atlanta never made an offer. Glavine lives in suburban Atlanta.