Lucas Duda homers in the 11th, Mets drop Phils

Signs of mental fatigue could be spotted all over the field.

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins airmailed a throw to first base on a routine grounder. Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada stole second only to slide over the bag to make an out.

The Phillies' Dominic Brown singled then ran into an out when he tried -- inexplicably -- advancing to second on a throw. Perhaps he was delirious from 39 innings packed into three days.

For the third straight day, the Mets and Phillies required extra innings to settle what have been otherwise unremarkable games. But this time, the madness lasted only into the 11th, when Mets slugger Lucas Duda drilled a two-run shot to centerfield to push the Mets to a 4-3 victory.

The Mets won for the third time in this rare five-game series, which wraps up tomorrow.

Mets lefty Jonathon Niese delivered exactly what his team desperately needed -- a quality start. He efficiently chewed through the Phillies lineup. In eight innings, he made just one costly mistake, a home run to Ryan Howard.

After playing 14 innings on Friday, and another 14 on Saturday, the Mets and Phillies needed 11 innings yesterday. It was nearly more.

With closer Jenrry Mejia on the hill, Marlon Byrd launched a solo shot with one out to bring the Phillies to within one run. Luckily for the Mets, Mejia got a pop up from Carlos Ruiz and a groundout from Howard to end the game.