On the Mets beat

Manager Willie Randolph is usually effusive in his praise of Orlando Hernandez, but one pitch in particular really bothered him from last night's 5-3 loss to the Dodgers. It was the 3-and-2 slow curve that El Duque threw to Juan Pierre leading off the fourth inning. Pierre didn't bite, wound up on first base with a walk and sparked the Dodgers' three-run burst.

"That leadoff walk didn't help any," Randolph said. "He threw him a slow curve that he didn't even swing at. You can't do that. He was throwing the ball well to that point."

That's definitely a no-no to Pierre, who walked twice last night for the first this season and now has only 11 this season overall.He rattled Hernandez by stealing second and later scored on Russell Martin's double.

Catcher Paul Lo Duca felt the only mistake Hernandez made that inning was the hanger that Luis Gonzalez ripped for an RBI double.El Duque allowed as many runs in the fourth as he had in his previous 36 innings, and letting LA tie the score at that point definitely blew a hole in the Mets' confidence.

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Shawn Green credited the element of surprise for his steal of second base in the first inning. Green, in his first game back from the DL, stunned the Dodgers to the extent that catcher Russell Martin's bounced away for an error and he took third.

"That was kind of my approach," Green said, smiling. "I knew they wouldn't be expecting it so I went on the first pitch."

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Here's David Wright's take on the Mets' brutal stretch ahead, where they play the Yankees, Twins, A's and Cardinals after wrapping this series with the Dodgers.

"You try not to think ahead, but we have a tough schedule overall and a tough interleague schedule. They're all playoff teams from last year and we know that. We know that we’re going to have to elevate our game. It’s kind of a tough spot in the season to scuffle as we have, and then play these teams. Sometimes you scuffle and get away with playing lower echelon teams. but when you’re playing the best of the best, they’re going to exploit your weaknesses, and that’s what Detroit did.

"We’re going to have to recuperate quickly or we’re going to get embarrassed over these next couple weeks. We’re at a point in the season we need to dig down deep. Even if we’re not playing as well as we can, we have to find ways to win. We have to create runs, we have to push, because over this streak you can get beat up pretty good with these teams that we’re playing."