On the Mets beat

BY DAVID LENNON

LOS ANGELES – It appears that the Mets’ recent malaise is a little more troubling than one lost weekend in Detroit.

In an effort to turn the page, manager Willie Randolph delivered a brief 15-minute pep talk to his players before last night’s game against the Dodgers. But the bad karma from that dreadful series against the Tigers must have followed the Mets westward to Chavez Ravine.

How else can you explain Orlando Hernandez suddenly unraveling after 15 scoreless innings? Or the Mets going ice-cold after sprinting to a 3-0 lead? It’s easier to blame last night’s 5-3 loss to the Dodgers on lousy luck and hope it turns soon after the Mets’ ninth defeat in 12 games. But the players think differently.

“To get out of this, it’s going to be a grind,” Paul Lo Duca said. “I’m sick and tired of hearing that we’re banged up. That’s not an excuse. We need to play better. That’s the bottom line.”

The Mets actually got healthier with the return of Shawn Green from the disabled list and the rightfielder chipped in with a pair of hits, including an RBI single in the first inning. In that same sequence, Green stole second and took third when the throw from catcher Russell Martin bounced away for an error. He later scored on David Wright’s two-out single.

Not bad for a guy still recovering from a broken foot, but Green is more concerned with the Mets’ fractured psyche.

“Sometimes during a season, things just don’t mesh,” Green said. “We’re just finding ways to lose.”

Here’s how it happened last night. Hernandez, who had allowed only three runs in his previous 33 innings, failed to hold a 3-0 lead. The Dodgers rallied for three runs to tie the score in the fourth inning and then moved ahead with two more in the sixth.

Luis Gonzalez opened with a double to the gap in right-center, and one out later, James Loney followed with a double to the warning track in left that nearly caused a collision between Carlos Beltran and Carlos Gomez. The ball landed at the base of the wall, where Beltran retrieved it near the fallen Gomez, but he dropped it before making a throw and the error allowed Loney to take third.

With Tony Abreu at the plate, the Dodgers gambled with a suicide squeeze. The Mets called a pitchout, but the lefthanded Abreu barely got his bat on the ball, and the bunt rolled up the third-base line, where Lo Duca easily tagged out Loney. Lo Duca should have stopped there.

Instead, he fired a wild throw to first that skidded past the diving Carlos Delgado and bounced into rightfield. The error let Abreu sprint all the way around to third and pinch hitter Wilson Betemit put the Dodgers ahead, 5-3, with an RBI single that finished El Duque.

“”I don’t regret throwing it,” Lo Duca said. “I just didn’t make the throw. It would have been a great double play.”

Randolph’s team is on a slippery slope after a sweep by the Phillies at Shea was made considerably worse by losing two of three to the defending American League champions at Comerica Park. The finale, a 15-7 whipping on Sunday, left a particularly bad taste in the manager’s mouth and Randolph thought it might be time for a little reminder about playing the game with maximum effort.

The message was a broad one, and Randolph hinted at his feelings when he spoke with reporters yesterday afternoon. The manager talked about how some players have to be smarter at the plate and not have the attitude that they “own” RBIs in certain situations. Randolph stopped short of calling anyone selfish, but he also suggested the Mets’ approach is not where it should be.

“Don’t assume you own those RBIs,” Randolph said before the game. “There’s somebody on deck behind you. It’s a team. The ultimate goal is to get guys in.”

Last night’s lineup may have been a reflection of that. Wright was in the No. 4 spot rather than the inconsistent Carlos Delgado, who was batting fifth. Wright extended his hitting streak to 13 games, but after belting a home run in four consecutive games, he fell short of Richard Hidalgo’s franchise record. That, of course, was not the most pressing issue on his mind after the Mets went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

“I think everybody wants to get that big hit,” Wright said. “Hopefully we’ll have good at-bats and find some holes. This is just what happens when you’re going through a rut like we are right now.”

Gomez put the Mets up, 3-0, with his two-out RBI single in the fourth inning, but the Dodgers rallied to the tie the score in the bottom half. A leadoff walk to Juan Pierre became trouble when he stole second to set up Martin, who pulled an RBI single past the diving Wright.

Martinez also preyed on El Duque’s slow delivery by swiping second, and one out later, Gonzalez ripped an RBI double into the rightfield corner. Andre Ethier continued to pile on when he dunked a single into shallow left and Gomez blew any shot he had at Gonzalez by taking too much time to get the ball out of his glove. By the time Gomez did, his throw was wide, and Lo Duca stepped up to keep Ethier at first base.

Just like that, the Mets’ early lead had vanished. The losing, however, continued for another day.

“We’ll go out tomorrow and get a win,” Randolph said. “Keep working.”