That relentless team 120 miles to the south put up four runs before the Meta batted last night at Shea Stadium against the Cardinals, six runs before the Mets got their second hit.
The Phillies had owned the Mets in September, but the Mets still owned the division lead. Now, that suddenly was in peril.
It is Shea's penultimate year, as the new stadium, scheduled to open in 2009, rises beyond centerfield. Looking much as Veterans Stadium did at the end, Shea has the appearance of a place that time forgot, its interior looking like something from a Third World country, its exterior peeling and forlorn. Last night, it seemed half empty, even though the announced attendance was 48,900.
Perhaps the fans were waiting for the postseason, the new park or something they could not define. Maybe they just didn't want to be accomplices to the meltdown. They were handed neither rally towels nor towels to cover their faces.
Before the game, Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca was asked how he was dealing with a slide that was closing in on historic.
"Can't sleep," he said.
Lo Duca might have used up all his luck on the first Saturday of May in 2005 when he backed the 50-1 winner of the Kentucky Derby. Lo Duca's friend, jockey Mike Smith, told the catcher his mount, Giacomo, was live that day. The Mets remain alive, in theory.
The plodder to the south has finally caught up. The Mets lost, 3-0. The Phils beat the Braves, 6-4. The teams are in a dead heat, three games from the finish line. If it is still a heat by Sunday night, the winner will be determined in a one-game playoff Monday at Citizens Bank Park.
