Mets Ring In Citi Field By Losing Series To Padres

PADRES 6

METS 5

How does pitcher John Maine reward Carlos Delgado and his teammates for giving him a 3-0 lead early in Thrusday night's game against the San Diego Padres? Surrender five runs in the third and get slapped around by a guy named Chase Headley. Nice job.

With the Mets lead now dwindled to 3-2, Maine walked Adrian Gonzalez intentionally to load the bases, with the fear that Gonzalez would bop the ball out of the ballpark. Maine should have been more fearfull of Headley. Headley singled to right center to drive in Jody Gerut and David Eckstein to give the Padres a 4-3 lead. Finally, Kevin Kouzmanoff singled to left to drive in Gonzalez to give San Diego a 5-3 lead.

The Mets, who had a chance to beat up on Jake Peavy early in this game, had no more answers for the Padres ace. Peavy lasted through five innings and only surrendered that three run homer to Delgado in the first innning. Peavy is now 2-1.

In the fifth, Headley added to the Padre lead when he doubled to right to bring in Gonzalez, making it 6-3. Headley went 4 for 4 on the day with three RBI, not bad for a guy who was hitting .171 entering tonight's game.

The Mets inched closer when Ramon Castro lifted a two-run home run that just cleared the left field wall, but Heath Bell shut the door by getting the Mets out in order for the second time in three days.

The Mets are 4-5 and are already four games behind the surging Florida Marlins who are 8-1. If that continues, the Mets won't have to worry about another September collapse. At least Met fans will have a happier September if that's the case. BOXSCORE.