The Mets started their three-game series with Houston in second place, one game behind the Phils. And now they’re in third place, two and a half games out (with Philadelphia playing tonight). They can’t hold a lead. They can’t score when they load the bases. What happened? The Jerry Manuel mojo has gone into hiding. They’re now 7-9 since the All-Star break.

Friday, Astros 7-3: Two Words: Aaron Heilman

Ok, it wasn’t just Aaron Heilman. The Mets loaded the bases in the seventh inning with nobody out and couldn’t score. Carlos Delgado led off the sixth with a double and the offense failed to drive him in. But after throwing a scoreless seventh, Heilman filled the bases with Astros and Mark Loretta belted a grand salami. It was the eighth home run the beleaguered reliever has let up this year. Astros manager Cecil Cooper pushed all the right buttons, mixing and matching his pitchers to get out of jams and sending up the right pinch hitters. Jerry Manuel wasn’t as lucky. Pedro Martinez stepped on the mound for the first time in 20 days, and the Mets got pretty much what they hoped for―five innings, three runs (on three solo home runs), five hits, five strikeouts and three walks. He threw 87 pitches. The Mets scored all their runs early. David Wright drove in a run in the first, and they knocked four straight two-out hits in the fourth to plate two runs, with Damion Easley and Fernando Tatis each getting an RBI. Tatis ended up July hitting .397, which led the majors. Kaz Matsui hit another leadoff homer. Are all his career hits leadoff dingers? It seems like it. And seeing Ty Wigginton play made me wonder, is he the last Met to knock over a catcher to score a run?

Saturday, Astros 5-4: Two Words: Billy Wagner

The Mets bullpen is officially a disaster. Billy Wagner couldn’t hold a two-run lead, and blew his seventh save of the year. And now he’s injured. Aaron Heilman and Pedro Feliciano let in the winning run in the 10th inning. Scott Schoeneweis gave up a Kaz Matsui home run in the eighth. It was Matsui’s first four-bagger of the year hitting right handed. There’s not one reliever out in the pen that you can trust right now. Any one of them can fall apart at any moment. And they’re doing it pretty damn consistently. It’s déjà vu all over again for Johan Santana. He pitched 6.1 innings, let in one run on three hits and two walks, and struck out three. He left the game with a 4-1 lead and ended up with another no decision. It looks like he has to throw a complete game to pick up a win. Ramon Castro sprained his right ankle on a crazy play that tied the game in the ninth. Mark Loretta acted as the lead blocker for Hunter Pence as they each scored (and picked up the first down), with Pence about a foot behind Loretta. Daniel Murphy made his Major League debut, singling in his first at bat and then making a sensational leaping grab in left and turned it into a double play. Damion Easley hit a two-run homer, and Carlos Beltran (batting second for the first time this year) and Carlos Delgado each drove in a run.

Sunday, Astros 4-0: Two Words: Swept Away

The Mets loaded the bases twice and couldn’t score either time. That’s the story of this game. Oliver Perez pitched five good innings, but it was his one bad inning that did him in. Three two-out hits for three runs in the fourth were enough to lose the game with the way the offense went today. Eddie Kunz made his Major League debut and threw a scoreless seventh inning. He did make an error, though, but got out of the inning with a double play. With Billy Wagner confessing he has a strained forearm, we may be seeing a lot more of Kunz. Robinson Cancel had a bunt base hit in the third, but also made the third out of the inning when he tried to steal third base. That’s probably the first time in baseball history a third-string catcher has done those two things in one game. Nick Evans had two assists out in left field. It was the first Astros sweep of the Mets in 15 years. The Mets went 1-5 on their road trip and look to turn things around when they head back to Shea for a three-game series with San Diego.