On the Mets beat

BY DAVID LENNON

LOS ANGELES – The second week of June is a little early to be talking about must-wins, but heading into last night’s series finale at Dodger Stadium, it definitely felt like one for the Mets.

Not so much for their grip on first place in the National League East. That was safe regardless of the outcome. But at stake last night for the Mets was something even more important – their dignity – and they fumbled that away too in a 9-1 loss to the Dodgers.

Jorge Sosa picked a bad time to lose his magic touch, allowing six runs in 5 2/3 innings, and the Mets didn’t score after taking a 1-0 lead in the first on David Wright’s RBI single.

Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado went a combined 0-for-8 as the Dodgers completed their first three-game sweep of the Mets at Chavez Ravine since 1996. Billy Wagner, who served up a two-run homer to James Loney in the eighth inning, expressed the disgust that has enveloped the Mets after dropping their fifth straight.

Asked if he was embarrassed, Wagner replied, “Oh yeah,” then continued to issue what sounded like an apology for another lackluster performance.

“I’m sure Omar [Minaya] didn’t put this team together to expect this type of play,” Wagner said. “I’m sure Fred Wilpon didn’t shell out all that money for us to go play like this.”

The spiraling Mets (36-28) have lost nine of 10 as their lead continued to shrink in the NL East. The Phillies moved into a second-place tie with the Braves yesterday and both teams trail by only two games with the Mets heading to the Bronx for this weekend’s Subway Series

“We’ve got to turn it around and we’ve got to turn it around fast,” Wright said. “Why not play the best? That’s what we have to do. We’re capable of beating the best teams and the Yankees are probably the best team in baseball right now.”

The Dodgers looked pretty good, too. They outscored the Mets, 18-4, in the sweep and came from behind in each of the three games. Penny allowed seven hits and struck out seven over seven innings as the Mets went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

"We caused a lot of our own problems, but right now they’re very good," Wagner said."They played outstanding baseball and we made them look better with our sloppy play and lackadaisical efforts.

It was Sosa who stopped the Mets’ previous four-game slide Friday with eight scoreless innings in Detroit and last night he was asked to do it again. Given the moribund state of the team’s offense lately, a repeat performance was probably a good idea, and Sosa looked ready for the encore when he retired seven straight to open the game.

But Sosa couldn’t hold a 1-0 lead and the Mets already trailed, 5-1, when manager Willie Randolph came out to retrieve him with in the sixth inning. The Dodgers got a pair of two-out singles by Wilson Betemit and Matt Kemp to chase Sosa and Pedro Feliciano gave up an RBI-double to Tony Abreu for another insurance run.

Betemit tied the score in the fifth inning when launched a leadoff home run that sailed over the outstretched glove of Carlos Beltran in left-centerfield. Betemit was the one who started the Dodgers’ three-homer barrage Tuesday against John Maine and this time, with the count 0-and-2, he crushed a hanging slider to tie the score.

“I was trying to throw a backdoor slider but the ball stayed in the middle of the plate,” said Sosa, who had allowed only one run in his previous 17 1/3 innings. “I knew that he was a bad breaking ball hitter but that ball was right in the middle of the plate.”

The next batter, Matt Kemp, reached when Sosa couldn’t beat him to the bag on Delgado’s flip to first. One out later, Penny sacrificed him over and Rafael Furcal hammered the first pitch into the rightfield corner for a triple that put the Dodgers up, 2-1. Juan Pierre followed with an RBI single but was thrown out trying to stretch for a double in an apparent attempt to catch the Mets napping.

Once again, the Mets raced to an early lead, just as they had in the first two losses to the Dodgers. It was almost becoming more of a tease for a demoralized team grasping for any shred of hope. Despite Penny’s dominance this season (7-1, 2.26 ERA) he’s always been ordinary facing the Mets. In 16 career starts, Penny was 3-10 with a 6.16 ERA against them.

That trend continued in the first inning and then abruptly stopped. Shawn Green slapped a one-out double down the leftfield line, and after Beltran bounced to third, Wright punched an RBI single to center. As yet another example of the Mets’ desperation, Wright tried to stretch for a double and was easily gunned down to end the inning.

Wright has been virtually alone in the middle of the Mets’ lineup. Heading into last night’s series finale, Beltran was batting .171 (6-for-35) with as many strikeouts as hits this month. He also had just one RBI, courtesy of his only extra-base hit, a home run on June 6 in a loss to the Phillies.

Delgado has struggled as well. Wright bumped him from the cleanup spot for these three games in LA, even with the righthanded Penny starting last night, and Delgado’s RBI single Tuesday snapped an 0-for-16 skid with runners in scoring position. Since Friday’s homer in Detroit, Delgado was 3-for-17 with a pair of doubles and one RBI during the Mets’ four-game slide.

Delgado was asked yesterday if the team’s struggles have forced players to put too much pressure on themselves. In his case, it could be reflected in a lack of patience, as Randolph cautioned the Mets about before this series began on Monday. Delgado and Beltran each have only one walk this month.

“It kind of happens,” Delgado said, “but that’s the worst thing you can do. It does get a little more personal. You want to bear down a little more and help turn this thing around.”

As for the reversal of fortune over the past two weeks, Delgado added, “We’ve got the same guys, so it’s not like they forgot to play overnight. We’ve got great talent in this room.”