Good thing the Mets only had to face Vance Worley last night, huh?
Worley is no slouch, but after a four-game stretch in which the Mets had faced All-Star starters Clayton Kershaw, Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain — and last night avoided Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee — this should have been a breath of fresh air. But when the Mets inhaled, they coughed up their lunches.
The punchless Mets are on life support after a 7-2 loss to the Phillies at Citi Field that knocked them 8½ games behind Atlanta in the wild card race and moved Carlos Beltran a step closer to being traded.
Beltran hit a monstrous home run against reliever Michael Stutes in the eighth for the Mets’ final run, but that was about it for the team’s offensive highlights. Worley (5-1) allowed one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings, helping send the Mets (46-46) to a third straight loss.
“This is the ultimate challenge now,” manager Terry Collins said. “We came out of the [All-Star] break, we had some guys that needed rest, and we’ll see who steps up. We’re back to Square 1. We’ve got 70 [games] to play and we’ll just see who rises.”
You can count Beltran, who has reached base safely in his last 24 games, among the living.
“I’m a Met and I’m trying to help this team win ballgames,” Beltran said.
Though the Mets hope Jose Reyes and David Wright are around the next corner to rescue the lineup, time is clearly of the essence. The Mets will get another dose of All-Star pitching today when Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Phillies.
“I understand the [trade] deadline is coming up and we have to prove if we’re in the race,” Daniel Murphy said. “But this is another two-week stretch. These games against the Phillies are no more important than the first three we played this season. We’re just trying to play good baseball.”
There was plenty of ugliness to go around for the Mets, but maybe nothing topped Ruben Tejada’s fielding error with two outs in the eighth that opened the door for the Phillies to score three unearned runs against Tim Byrdak. John Mayberry’s three-run double against Ryota Igarashi that made it 7-1 broke the game open. Mayberry finished with a career-high five RBIs.
The Mets had their chance in the sixth, loading the bases with one out, but could only pull within 4-1. After Worley walked Jason Bay to load the bases, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel summoned lefty reliever Juan Perez. Collins countered with Scott Hairston to pinch hit for Lucas Duda. The Mets got their run when Perez threw a wild pitch on a swing and miss by Hairston for strike three. Ronny Paulino, pinch hitting for Josh Thole, ended the inning with a groundout.
R.A. Dickey (4-8) allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks over seven innings to get hit with his first loss since June 11 at Pittsburgh.
Raul Ibanez’s solo homer in the sixth put Dickey in a 4-0 hole. The homer was the 14th allowed by Dickey this season — he allowed only 13 in 2010.
The Phillies did most of their damage against Dickey in the second inning. Mayberry’s two-run single made it 2-0 before another run scored on Worley’s fielder’s choice. Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz had singled in succession to begin the rally before Dickey walked Domonic Brown to load the bases.
“Last year I was a lot better at making the big pitch,” Dickey said. “This year it’s a lot tougher with that pitch.”