Worley, bullpen, Mayberry sink Mets

The idea for the Mets was to start fast in the two-week sprint from the All-Star break to the July 31 trade deadline, but they were left in the starting blocks Friday night at Citi Field by the National League East-leading Phillies, one of the teams they are trying to catch. The Mets' bats have been cold for the past five games, and Phillies rookie starting pitcher Vance Worley made sure they stayed that way in a 7-2 loss.

Worley (5-1, 2.15 ERA) allowed three hits and only the third earned run he's allowed in his past 301/3 innings, striking out four and walking four. He was supported by centerfielder John Mayberry's five-RBI night.

The loss dropped the Mets back to .500 (46-46), leaving them 121/2 games behind Philadelphia in the division and 81/2 games behind Atlanta in the wild-card race.

The Mets know they need a strong showing if they want general manager Sandy Alderson to keep the team together.

The only player who got the message was the one most likely to be traded -- rightfielder Carlos Beltran. He scored both Mets runs, including a solo home run, his 14th, in the eighth inning.

Manager Terry Collins admitted it was a deflating start under dire circumstances. Trailing late in the game with the prospect of facing Cole Hamels (11-4) in Saturday's 4:05 matinee, Collins said he turned to bench coach Ken Oberkfell and said: "This is the ultimate challenge. We'll see who steps up. We're back to Square One. We'll see who rises."

Worley was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he spent the All-Star break pitching six shutout innings in a win over Syracuse. Over his previous four major-league starts, Worley's 0.72 ERA was the second-best of any NL starter since June 18.

If any team had a reason for optimism going into the game against Worley, it was the Mets, who gave him his only loss this season back on May 29 when they scored eight runs and got 12 hits against him. But the Mets were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and are hitting .135 in that situation the past five games.

Worley was in command early on Friday night after the Phillies staked him to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Mets starter R.A. Dickey gave up singles to Raul Ibañez and Carlos Ruiz before walking Domonic Brown to load the bases. The first two runs scored on a single by Mayberry, who then scored on Worley's groundout.

Angel Pagan saved a run in the third inning with an over-the-shoulder catch in deep centerfield on a drive by Ryan Howard. Chase Utley had preceded Howard with a one-out double.

Dickey was steady after that until giving up a sixth-inning homer to Ibañez for a 4-0 lead.

"I'd take back two pitches, the 3-2 pitch to Brown and the home run," Dickey said. "Last year, I was much better at making the big pitch."

Digging out of an early hole against Worley proved an impossible task. "He was able to mix pitches well," Beltran said. "He used the cutter more. Last time, he was more fastball. He kept us off balance and pitched a good game."

With one out in the sixth, Worley ran out of gas, loading the bases on a walk to Beltran, a single by Daniel Murphy and a walk to Jason Bay. Reliever Juan Perez came in to get Lucas Duda on a third-strike wild pitch that allowed Beltran to score. The Phillies added three unearned runs in the eighth on Mayberry's bases-loaded double for a 7-1 lead before Beltran homered in the bottom of the inning for the 7-2 final.

Dickey acknowledged the pressure on the Mets must be addressed soon.

"There probably is a level of concern that everybody should have that we put our best foot forward every day," Dickey said. "But this was one game. It wasn't do-or-die. The talk has been that we have two weeks to see which direction the team is going to go. Each of us in here has a gift, and we have to bring that gift every day."