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Mets drop fifth straight game

Sep 19, 2007 - 5:07 AM By Ben Standig PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- One day after the New York Mets blew an early four-run lead and dropped their fourth straight game, they held a closed door team meeting. After watching another four-run lead disappear, the Mets are now just trying to hold on to their lead in the National League East.

The slumping Mets squandered another early four-run lead as the Washington Nationals hit three home runs, including a three-run bomb from Ronnie Belliard in the pivotal fifth inning, to help send the Mets to their fifth straight loss, 9-8, on Tuesday.

The Mets (83-67), who held a seven-game lead on September 12, entered the day with a 2 1/2 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. They jumped out with four runs in the first inning and led, 7-3, midway through the fifth.

"If I tell you I'm not worried, I'd be lying," said Mets outfielder Moises Alou.

However, starting pitcher John Maine (14-10) could not maintain the edge as he allowed a career-high eight runs, including five in the bottom of the fifth inning, on 11 hits.

"Everyone did their job but me. ... I didn't hold my end up," said Maine, who watched his season ERA rise from 3.72 to 4.04.

With one out in the fifth and runners at first and second, Wily Mo Pena and Austin Kearns hit back-to-back RBI singles to pull the Nationals within 7-5. Belliard strode to the plate, having already singled in his two plate appearances against Maine and crushed the first pitch over the left field wall for his 11th home run and an 8-7 lead.

"We've been scoring some runs, but you've got to hold them down," said Mets manager Willie Randolph, who watched his team belt out 16 hits. "Johnny (Maine) was throwing the ball well for a little while, but he lost it, and he got hammered a little bit."

Trailing, 9-7, in the top of the ninth, the Mets got three straight two-out singles, the last by Jeff Conine, to cut the deficit to 9-8. Nationals closer Chad Cordero then struck out Ruben Gotay on a 3-2 pitch for his 35th save.

Washington used eight relievers behind starter Joel Hanrahan, who was chased after three innings, having allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks. Jesus Colome (5-1), the fourth Nationals hurler on the night, pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the win.

The Nationals, who have won three of four games, have scored the fewest runs in the National League, but have hammered the Mets for 21 runs in the first two games of this series. It is their highest two-game total at RFK Stadium since the team returned to Washington.

"On back-to-back nights, its pretty incredible, considering we have a tough time scoring five runs in a game," said Nationals manager Manny Acta.

The Mets sent nine men to the plate in the opening frame. David Wright's one-out double to center scored Luis Castillo from first base and Wright came home on Carlos Beltran's single up the middle.

Following an Alou single to left - which extended his hitting streak to 22 games - and a Shawn Green walk on four pitches to load the bases, Paul Lo Duca drove home Beltran with a sacrifice fly to left and Endy Chavez drove Alou home for the fourth run on a single to center.

After Austin Kearns got the Nationals on the board with his 14th home run of the year, Green answered with a solo home run of his own in the third inning to make the score 5-1. Lo Duca and Chavez had RBI hits in the fifth inning as the Mets extended the lead to 7-3, but Maine could not get out of the inning.

D'Angelo Jimenez extended the Nationals lead to 9-7 with a pinch hit home run, his second on the season, off Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis, one of four Mets relievers used in the game.

Alou left the game in the fourth inning with tightness in his left quad, but said he should be fine for Wednesday's game.