Mets' bullpen flops in 10-6 loss to Phillies

NEW YORK – Dillon Gee gave the New York Mets another fine outing and they were in perfect position to beat winless Cliff Lee for the second time this season.

That all went to waste as soon as manager Terry Collins went to his bullpen.

Pinch-hitter Carlos Ruiz smacked a tying homer off Bobby Parnell in the seventh inning, Jimmy Rollins added a three-run shot and the Philadelphia Phillies busted loose late in a 10-6 victory Wednesday night.

"I've been throwing some good curveballs. I just left that one up," Parnell said.

Shane Victorino drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth and Philadelphia bailed out Lee to take two of three in the series. Ty Wigginton also homered for the Phillies, who improved to 3-6 against the Mets this season.

Lucas Duda went deep twice, including a two-run shot off Lee in the sixth that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead. Gee pitched 6 2-3 effective innings, but the New York bullpen was battered after he left — beginning with the two-run homer by Ruiz.

"Guys that pitched threw three nights in a row," Collins said. "Guys threw pitches they wish they could get back."

Rollins hit a long drive into the top deck in right off Ramon Ramirez in the ninth for his second homer of the season. Wigginton had an RBI double and Victorino a two-run single to cap a six-run inning that made it 10-3.

Wigginton, a former Met, finished the series with two homers and eight RBIs.

Juan Pierre singled off Jon Rauch (3-4) to open the eighth and went to third on Hunter Pence's single. One out later, Pierre scored with a headfirst slide on Victorino's liner to center.

"It's frustrating when you go out there and don't do your job," Rauch said.

Antonio Bastardo (2-1) and Jose Contreras each worked a scoreless inning after Lee was called back for Ruiz with Philadelphia trailing by two.

Lee entered with only eight walks in 51 innings this season, but issued a pair of free passes in the first. Daniel Murphy drew the first one and scored from first base on David Wright's double off the center-field fence, running through a late stop sign from third base coach Tim Teufel and barely beating the relay to the plate.

Wigginton homered leading off the second.

The score stayed tied at 1 until the sixth, when Scott Hairston doubled and Duda sent a drive to right-center for his first career homer off a left-handed pitcher.

"That was a big swing for him. If we get him going, our lineup is going to change immensely," Collins said.

It was the first homer by a left-handed hitter off Lee since Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez connected on July 30 last year.

Looking to win his third straight start, Gee pitched out of a jam in the sixth and retired his first two batters in the seventh. But ex-Met Brian Schneider doubled over the head of Andres Torres, who took a false step in deep center, and Gee was pulled after 110 pitches.

Parnell came in to face Ruiz, out of the starting lineup for the third straight game because of a sore right hamstring. Batting for Lee, the catcher drove a 1-1 pitch to left for his eighth home run.

"He's a great player and he's proven it day in and day out," Lee said. "It just shows how complete of a player he is. He's basically our best player right now and has been the whole time."

Ruiz rounded the bases enthusiastically to calls of "Chooooch!" from Philadelphia fans in the crowd of 30,064. Boos soon followed for Parnell after he got out of the inning.

Ruiz was confident he could have legged out a double, but he was glad to take it slow after the ball cleared the fence.

"Yeah, it was easy," he said with a smile.

Lee, hurt by poor run support all year, gave up seven hits and struck out seven in his eighth start of 2012. Before this, he had never gone more than three starts into a season without a win.

The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner was on the disabled list from April 19 to May 8 with a left oblique strain, but he has a 3.00 ERA and most of his numbers are excellent.

"I'm sure he's going to get some wins," Manuel said. "He'll get his share."

NOTES: Duda snapped an 0-for-16 slide with a fourth-inning single. ... He has seven homers this season and two multihomer games. ... Mets RHP Miguel Batista, on the disabled list with a lower back strain, went seven innings in a rehab start for Double-A Binghamton. ... After playing 20 days in a row, the Mets are off Thursday. They begin a four-game series Friday night against Carlos Beltran and the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. "I think it was a tough stretch. I think the day off is going to help everyone," Duda said. ... The entire draft class of the New York Giants was on the field before the game. Running back David Wilson, the team's first-round pick out of Virginia Tech, did a backflip in front of the mound and threw out the first pitch. The left-hander fired low and way wide past Wright, who grew up in Virginia and is a big Hokies fan.