Yesterday, the Mets opened Shea Stadium looking to put the past behind them. With a new season, a new ace, and a new found confidence, the collapse of 2007 was behind them. Unfortunately the results were the same as Phillies beat the Mets 5-2.  An errant throw and a struggling bullpen blew a strong outing for Oliver Perez, as the Mets lost their ninth consecutive game to the Phillies.

Going into the 7th inning with a 2-0 lead (a home run by Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran scored on a Ryan Church groundout), reliever Scott Schoeneweis got in early trouble. After retiring the first batter (pinch hitter So Taguchi), he allowed back-to-back singles to Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. Then he hit Chase Utley (the third time he was hit by a pitch in the game) to load the bases. Ryan Howard came up with the bases loaded and hit a ground ball to Delgado that should have been an inning ending double play. Unfortunately Utley took a wide path to second base, and Delgado’s throw hit him in the back (who didn’t hit Utley in the game?), scoring Rollins and Victorino. Jorge Sosa replaced Shoeneweis and got Pat Burrell to fly out to Church (advancing Utley to third), but gave up a single to Jayson Werth, scoring Utley, giving the Phillies the lead.

In the eighth Aaron Heilman came in and continued the bullpen implosion. Heilman allowed two runs on three walks (Carlos Ruiz, Victorino, Howard), a single (Rollins), and a double (Utley). When Heilman finally had gotten out of the inning, the damage had been done. The score was 5-2.

JC Romero and Tom Gordon slammed the door on the Mets as their record fell to 2-4.

Early in the season or not this is a bad loss for the Mets, and not just because it extends their losing streak to three games. The Mets lost this game in similar fashion to the Phillies as they have in the past. A strong pitching outing, and a bullpen breakdown.  A big win over the Phillies would break that cycle, give the Mets a mental lift, and a reason for fans not to panic.

This game exposed the continuing problem in the bullpen. Similar to the second half of last season, the bullpen has shown the inability to protect a lead or keep the game close. During the Mets three game losing streak the bullpen has allowed 7 walks and 12 earned runs.

The Mets hope to bounce back today as Mike Pelfrey takes the mound.  Starting for the Phillies will be Kyle Kendrick.