Wheels come off for Pelfrey in seventh

Of all the gruesome events in the seventh inning -- and from the Mets' perspective, there were plenty -- Mike Pelfrey had trouble narrowing the list to his own personal low point.

Was it Brett Gardner's leadoff single skipping through his legs? The following five-pitch walk to Chris Dickerson? Drilling Francisco Cervelli on the left shoulder as he squared around for a sacrifice bunt?

By the time Derek Jeter poked the tying single past a diving Jose Reyes, Pelfrey already was too angry with himself for that to even register. Though that ended Pelfrey's day, it was just the beginning for the Mets, who watched the Yankees score eight runs that inning en route to a 9-3 win Sunday.

"It's tough to watch," Pelfrey said. "Hitting is contagious. When the first four guys get on, it's tough to get guys out because they get on a roll and they feed off each other."

Aside from ranking the mishaps, maybe it's best to deconstruct the inning in chronological order. Pelfrey had a relatively easy time until the seventh, basically shutting down the Yankees after Curtis Granderson -- the second batter of the game -- took him over the rightfield wall for a solo homer.

All Pelfrey had to do was get through the bottom of the Yankees' lineup in the seventh, then turn the ball over to Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez. When Gardner stepped to the plate, Pelfrey even remembered the game plan -- sinker away, then prepare for the easy ground ball back to the mound. Exactly how pitching coach Dan Warthen had mapped it out during their pregame session.

"It went right between my legs," Pelfrey said. "It's frustrating when you have an opportunity and don't help yourself out."

Next was Dickerson, and Pelfrey fell behind 3-and-0 before walking him. It was no surprise what was coming next, but Pelfrey made life more complicated than it should have been. Cervelli, the No. 9 hitter, immediately squared to bunt on the first pitch, which nailed him on the left shoulder and knocked him to the ground.

"I wanted to throw a fastball up and away," Pelfrey said, "and I think at the last second, when he started to square around, I think I might have put my eyes on him. A lot of times the ball goes where your eyes are at, and I ended up hitting a guy that was giving himself up."

With Tim Byrdak and Pedro Beato warming up, Terry Collins could have made a move right then. Watching three straight Yankees reach in that fashion could have been a signal that Pelfrey was fading fast, punctuated by hitting Cervelli.

"We're going to get an out there," Collins said of Cervelli's planned sacrifice. "And if Derek gets a ground ball, and drives a run in, we're still up a run, and then get the lefty ready for Granderson. But when he loaded the bases, that's what put us in a jam."

With Pelfrey in trouble, Jeter hacked at the first-pitch slider and got it past Reyes and into centerfield for a two-run single. After three consecutive solid starts by Pelfrey, the chance for a fourth tanked, as he was saddled with five earned runs that dropped him to 1-4 with an 8.58 ERA on the road this season.

"Obviously, the seventh inning ruins the whole day," Pelfrey said. "This is a tough one to swallow on my end, especially."