Season Spiraling Out of Control, Mets Now Tied for First

The Mets' lead is gone, leaving them on the brink of a historic collapse.

The free-falling Mets managed just three hits off Joel Pineiro and Jason Isringhausen in a 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night, dropping New York into a first-place tie with Philadelphia in the NL East.

Not even Pedro Martinez could save New York, which had led the division alone every day since May 16. The Mets (87-72) were ahead by seven games on September 12 with 17 remaining but have lost 10 of their last 14, a monumental tailspin for a team that counted on being in the playoffs.

No major league team has failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game advantage with 17 remaining. But with three games remaining in the regular season — a weekend series at home against Florida — the Mets might fail to win the division or the wild card. Philadelphia closes the season at home against Washington. San Diego (87-71), which began the night with the wild-card lead, opened a four-game series at home against Milwaukee.

The latest loss was inflicted by the Cardinals, who beat the Mets in the seventh game of the NL championship series last year.

Skip Schumaker's RBI single gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the first and the Cardinals pushed across two more in the third. Albert Pujols doubled in a run and scored on Ryan Ludwick's base hit.

Martinez (3-1) allowed seven hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked one. He threw a season-high 105 pitches in his first loss in five starts since coming back from shoulder surgery.

While Martinez turned in a solid effort, the Mets offense was nonexistent against Pineiro (6-4), making his first career appearance against New York.

Pineiro struck out six and walked one in eight innings. David Wright doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, and Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green singled in the fifth but that was it for New York.

Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth to earn his 31st save and complete the three-hitter.

Notes Moises Alou went 0-for-3, stopping his hitting streak at 30 games, the longest by a player on a New York team (including Brooklyn) since Joe DiMaggio's record run of 56 games in 1941 with the Yankees. ... Mets OF Marlon Anderson's two-game suspension was upheld Thursday, leaving him out of the game and Friday's contest against the Marlins. Anderson was ejected in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia on September. 15 and threw his batting helmet toward home after he reached the dugout. ... St. Louis closes out the season with a three-game series at Pittsburgh.