On the Mets beat

BY DAVID LENNON

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers treated the second inning of last night’s game against the reeling Mets as if it were a longest-drive contest at Chavez Ravine C.C.

John Maine, in that scenario, was the tee.

On consecutive pitches, the threesome of Wilson Betemit, Matt Kemp and, yes, even Hong-Chih Kuo, launched home runs deep into the fading twilight of Dodger Stadium. Each one soared further than 400 feet.

String them all together, and they may have reached the “THINK BLUE” sign perched on the hills behind the leftfield bleachers. For the Mets, it was humiliating, especially watching Kuo flip his bat into the air like he was Barry Bonds.

Maine became the team’s first pitcher in seven years to suffer that particular indignity and the Mets essentially rolled over against Kuo in a 4-1 loss at Dodger Stadium. They now have lost eight of nine and 10 of their last 13.

What began as a June swoon is developing into a free-fall. The Mets, at 2-9, have lost more games this month than anyone else in the majors and the race is tightening in the NL East. The Braves remain two games back, but the Phillies closed to within three after last night’s victory over the White Sox.

“This is a test of our character and what we are made of,” David Wright said. “We need to step up. We’re getting to the point now where it’s beyond a little slump and beyond a little rut. We’ve got to step up.”

The Mets watched Orlando Hernandez’s streak of 15 scoreless innings go up in smoke in Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Dodgers. Last night, it was Maine’s perfect road record that was ruined in spectacular fashion. Maine was 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA in six starts away from Shea this season.

But by the time he left the mound with one out in the fifth, the shell-shocked Maine was a road warrior no longer. As if the three homers weren’t enough, Maine was stuck with a fourth run when Kemp’s infield single off reliever Joe Smith scored Luis Gonzalez, who had reached on a leadoff walk.

Before the game, manager Willie Randolph talked about keeping an even keel through the Mets’ recent misfortune. But that becomes increasingly difficult when the losing continues.

“I always try to keep things in perspective,” Randolph said. “We don’t like getting beat up. But the bottom line is that we’re a good team and we’ll ride whatever waves are in front of us.”

Last night was more like a tsunami. Maine became the first Mets’ pitcher to serve up three consecutive home runs since Pete Harnisch, who joined that select club on Opening Day of the 1997 season (Chris Gomez, Rickey Henderson, Quilvio Veras) against the Padres.

For the Dodgers, such an amazing display of power has been an annual event. It was only last September that they drilled four straight home runs – the last three on consecutive pitches -- in the ninth inning to complete an incredible rally against the Padres.

The Dodgers’ three-homer assault on Maine in the second inning was stunning. It happened on consecutive pitches, from the bottom three hitters in the lineup, including Kuo, who was 1-for-10 in his career with six strikeouts. And these were not cheapies, either.

“It happened so fast,” Carlos Beltran said. “I was like, ‘Wow.’ It looked so easy. Including the pitcher, he took a great swing and drove that ball really far.”

Betemit’s blast, on a 1-and-1 pitch, traveled 408 feet into the left-centerfield bleachers. Kemp followed with a 447- foot shot that reached the second-level loge seats just beyond the leftfield foul pole. How rare was that? Olmedo Saenz, then with the Dodgers, was the previous player to smash one into those same yellow seats back in 2005.

Last, but not least, was Kuo. Maybe by then word had spread through LA’s dugout about swinging at the first pitch because Kuo took a monstrous hack and knew it was gone as soon as he made contact. That was obvious when Kuo flipped his bat in the air, which did not sit well with some of the Mets.

“He looked good anyway,” Randolph said, sarcastically. “He must be used to it.”

But Maine, who claimed not to notice when Kuo made contact, never bothered to buzz Kuo in his next at-bat. Afterward, he watched the replay in the clubhouse and expressed some minor irritation.

“I don’t really care,” Maine said. “That stuff is nonsense. I’m not worried about it. It’s done. When you see it, it upsets you a little bit, but who knows.”

As Kuo jogged around the bases, the normally laid-back crowd at Chavez Ravine was in a full-on frenzy. It was then that pitching coach Rick Peterson visited the mound, put his hands on Maine’s shoulders and tried to restore some sanity to the situation.

For the second straight night, the Mets jumped to an early lead, only to lose it shortly afterward. Kuo had been tough on them in the past, with nine scoreless innings in three regular-season games that included one start – his first in the majors.

The Mets beat him in Game 2 of the Division Series, however, knocking him out after 4 1/3 innings. And they took a 1-0 lead in the second inning last night on Carlos Delgado’s RBI single to center. David Wright opened with a single that extended his hitting streak to 14 games and then stole second base. The sneaky Wright has not been caught stealing this season (14-for-14) and his aggressiveness was just what the Mets needed.

But the rally died quickly. Paul Lo Duca bounced into a double play and Kuo whiffed Jose Valentin with a nasty breaking pitch to demoralize the Mets. Little did they know it was only the beginning.

“An early season test,” Randolph said. “We’ve got to keep grinding it out and find a way to win tomorrow.”