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Mets collapse; Phillies surge

Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez is a picture of
dejection as he leaves in the sixth inning and New York's chances of a
playoff berth slipping away. (ED BETZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

By Associated Press  |  September 29, 2007

The New York Mets' meltdown reached the absurd last night. Out of first
place and nearly out of time, they're going to need help just to make the
playoffs.

All-Star third baseman David Wright forgot he had an easy force play,
Oliver Perez hit a pair of batters with the bases loaded, and the Mets
stumbled out of the NL East lead with a 7-4 loss to the last-place Florida
Marlins.

New York has lost five straight and 11 of 15 to fall one game back of
surging Philadelphia, which beat Washington. The Mets' eighth straight
home loss dropped them out of first place for the first time since May
15.

Everything looked rosy for the Mets when they held a seven-game lead
Sept. 12 with 17 games left, but it's been mostly downhill from there.
They're on the brink now of an unthinkable collapse: No major league team
has blown such a big lead in such a short time at the end of a season.

They have two games left against Florida at Shea Stadium but they might
be better off on the road. The Mets are in the midst of their longest
losing streak at Shea since they dropped nine in a row in 2004.

Phillies 6, Nationals 0 - Cole Hamels struck out 13 in
eight dominant innings, Ryan Howard hit his 45th homer, and host
Philadelphia grabbed the NL East lead.

Making his third start since missing one month because of a strained
elbow, Hamels (15-5) shut down the Nationals, allowing six hits and
walking one.

Cubs 6, Reds 0 - Alfonso Soriano hit another leadoff
homer, Carlos Zambrano (18-13) kept his cool, and the Cubs clinched the NL
Central with a victory at Cincinnati.

Thousands of Chicago fans made the five-hour road trip and cheered
every move by the Cubs, who earned their first playoff spot since 2003
when Milwaukee lost.

Padres 6, Brewers 3 - Khalil Greene hit a go-ahead
double and drove in three runs as San Diego boosted its playoff hopes and
eliminated host Milwaukee.

Greg Maddux (14-11) gave up three runs and six hits in five innings for
his 347th win as San Diego opened a two-game lead in the NL wild-card
standings and remained one game behind Arizona in the NL West. Trevor
Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 42d save in 47 chances.

Indians 5, Royals 3 - C.C. Sabathia picked up his
100th career victory and visiting Cleveland wrapped up home-field
advantage for the first round of the playoffs against the Yankees.

The Indians claimed their 95th victory, tying them with the Red Sox for
the most wins in the American League. The Red Sox, however, hold the
tiebreaker by taking five of seven from Cleveland.

Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 2 - Brandon Webb and Arizona
clinched a playoff spot and stopped Colorado's 11-game winning streak with
a victory in Denver.

Arizona's win combined with the Mets' loss put Arizona into the
playoffs for the first time since 2002. The Diamondbacks still don't know
whether they'll be the wild-card team or NL West champion.

The Rockies, who fell three games behind Arizona with two to go, can
still get into the playoffs as a wild card, although they'll need lots of
help.

Other games: John Lackey took over the AL lead in
earned-run average (3.01) and the Angels beat the Athletics, 2-0, in
Oakland to snap a three-game losing streak . . . Paul Konerko hit a
three-run home run and Jim Thome hit his 506th career homer to lead the
White Sox to a 5-2 win over the Tigers in Chicago . . . Adam Lind hit a
two-run homer to power host Toronto to a 5-4 victory over Tampa Bay.
Carlos Pena hit his 45th home run for the Devil Rays . . . Jim Edmonds had
a three-run single in the eighth to help visiting St. Louis take a 6-1
victory over Pittsburgh . . . Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run homer as the
Braves beat host Houston, 7-2 . . . David Wells (9-9) picked up the win
and singled home a run as the host Dodgers beat the Giants, 8-3 . . .
Rookie Jeff Clement homered to spark host Seattle to a 6-4 victory over
Texas.

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper
Company.

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