New year, same story: The Mets still can’t beat the Phillies.
A sun-splashed day that began with such cheer for the Mets ended with a ninth consecutive loss to their NL East nemesis dating to last season.
As if that wasn’t dreary enough, the 5-2 setback today in the final home opener at Shea Stadium only hinted at the various disasters that struck Willie Randolph’s club throughout the afternoon.
In the process of dropping their third consecutive game after a 2-1 start, the Mets lost Luis Castillo to knee problems, learned Orlando Hernandez could be sidelined for good, and had to go without one of their better relievers, Pedro Feliciano, at a crucial moment due to a cancelled flight.
Oh, and they suffered another bullpen meltdown, went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, lost to soft-tossing Jamie Moyer and – stop us if you’ve heard this before – had no answer for Jimmy Rollins.
Did we leave anything out?
“This is a test, and we’re failing that test,” a dejected David Wright said. “This city expects winners and expects us to play good baseball, and we’re not playing good baseball.”
Especially against the Phillies, who continue to find ways to demoralize the Mets. Philadelphia hasn’t lost to the Amazin’s since June 30, 2007, a stretch that includes the famous comeback to win the division last September.
In short, the Phillies own the Mets, as much as the Mets hate to admit it.
“When they come here, they bring it,” closer Billy Wagner, a former Phillie, said. “They show up and they play great. That’s what we have to do.”
Reliever Scott Schoeneweis, who was booed relentlessly by the Shea record Opening Day crowd of 56,350 while surrendering a 2-0 lead in the decisive seventh inning, said the Phillies’ mastery is simple to explain.
“From where I sit, their bullpen has outpitched our bullpen in those nine games,” Schoeneweis said. “They’ve done a better job of making timely plays late in the game.”
That certainly was the case today, when Schoeneweis and four other relievers couldn’t make a Carlos Delgado home run, an RBI fielder’s choice, and 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball by starter Oliver Perez hold up.
The bullpen wasn’t the only culprit, though. Delgado nullified his first homer of the season with a crucial throwing error in the seventh inning that opened the gates to the Phillies’ rally.
With the Mets clinging to a 2-0 lead, Delgado blew a potential double-play grounder that would have gotten them out of the inning when he drilled Chase Utley in the shoulder running to second.
The botched play allowed Rollins and Shane Victorino to score, starting a three-run rally and prompting a groan from the crowd. That’s because they knew what was coming next.
The completion of the Mets’ meltdown came one inning later, when Aaron Heilman, the goat in Sunday’s loss in Atlanta, was rocked again, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks as the boos rained down.
“If you expect the perks of playing in New York, you’ve also got to expect the boos,” Wright said. “We’ve got to be mentally tough and not let those boos affect us.”
It would help if the Mets would start being mentally tough when they face the Phillies.
Carlos Beltran’s spring-training boast that the Amazin’s and not Philadelphia would win the division already is sounding hollow, even though the teams still have 17 more games against each other.
Rollins, who was terrific as usual against the Mets, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and strong defense, guaranteed the exact opposite this spring. The reigning NL MVP is looking more like the prophetic one.
“That’s one straight loss in 2008, and that’s all we’re worried about,” Wright countered. “[Last year] is done, over with.”
The momentum in the series says otherwise.
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Hernandez returned to New York from Florida for an MRI exam on his ailing right foot, a problem that hampered the 40-something Cuban throughout spring training and forced him to begin the season on the disabled list. Hernandez’s second minor-league rehab assignment in Port St. Lucie is now on indefinite hold.
bhubbuch@nypost.com