The Philadelphia Phillies ended their slump just in time to avoid last place. Chase Utley hit a three-run homer and Philadelphia snapped its five game skid by capitalizing on Kazuhisa Ishii’s wildness for a 6-3 victory last night over the Mets.

Another defeat would have dropped the Phillies below the Mets and into the NL East cellar.

Cory Lidle tossed seven solid innings in a steady rain, and David Bell drove in two runs to spark the Phillies to only their second win in 10 games. They face Pedro Martinez today and Atlanta’s John Smoltz tomorrow night.

Cliff Floyd hit his 21st homer and an RBI single for the Mets. Pinch-hitter Jose Offerman also connected for his first homer with New York.

Ishii (2-7) set down nine of his first 10 batters, then walked three straight starting the fourth. After Jim Thome struck out, Bell delivered a two-run single for the first hit of the game.

“I don’t think my control was too off. I think I just became a little too cautious that inning,” Ishii said through a translator. “I think I need to be more aggressive and stop protecting myself.”

Utley was next, and he drove a 2-2 pitch off the lower portion of the right center scoreboard for his 11th homer, just his second against a left-hander. It also was Utley’s third home run in 30 at bats against the Mets this season.

A frustrated Willie Randolph popped right out of the dugout to yank Ishii, booed by the crowd of 24,915 as he walked off the mound. He gave up only two hits but walked four, and has lost four of five starts.

“Right now, he’s still in the rotation,” Randolph said. “He’s out of his rhythm and he’s trying to find it. He goes through some spurts where he seems to find it, and I thought that was the case early on tonight.”

Backed by strong defense, Lidle (7-6) retired his first 10 batters before Mike Cameron’s double. After losing 4-3 to Ishii last week, the right-hander, who made his major league debut with the Mets in 1997, allowed five hits and walked one. He struck out seven, improving to 4-1 in five career games against the Mets.

“That’s a lineup that I like to throw to,” Lidle said. “I feel like I have a good game plan against them.”

Cameron scored on Floyd’s two-out single in the fourth, making it 5-1. But Bobby Abreu walked, stole second and scored on Thome’s RBI groundout in the fifth.

Offerman homered in the fifth and Floyd in the sixth, cutting it to 6-3.

Philadelphia employed a drastic shift against Floyd, and it paid off in the second inning. Utley, the second baseman, fielded a hard one-hopper in medium right field and barely threw out Floyd, with Thome getting back to first just in time.