Cardinals 3, Mets 0

New York – The New York Mets’ lead in the NL East is gone. They might not even be in playoffs at all if they can’t snap out of their near historic funk.

The spiraling Mets managed just three hits off Joel Pineiro and Jason Isringhausen in a loss that dropped them into a first-place tie with Philadelphia in the division.

“We’re tied now, so now we’ve got three games to get it done,” manager Willie Randolph said. “That’s the way baseball goes and we kind of made our own bed here so we’ve got to fight through this.”

Not even Pedro Martinez could save New York, which had led the division alone every day since May 16.

The Mets (87-72) were ahead by seven games on Sept. 12 with 17 remaining but have lost 10 of 14 overall and seven straight at home, a monumental tailspin for a team that counted on being in the playoffs.

“I think we’re due to have something special happen to us,” Martinez said.

No major league team has failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game lead with 17 to play. But with three games remaining in the regular season – a weekend series at home against Florida – the Mets might fail to win the division or qualify as the wild card.

Phillies 6, Braves 4

Philadelphia – Ryan Howard hit his 44th homer, Pat Burrell also connected and the Phillies roughed up John Smoltz, before hanging on for a victory.

The Phillies’ last three games are against Washington, which is coming off a three-game sweep at Shea Stadium.

Diamondbacks 8, Pirates 0

Pittsburgh – Last-minute replacement Micah Owings pitched 61â3 innings and went 4-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs to help Arizona.

Given an ominous weather forecast, Melvin decided less than an hour before game time to hold back ace Brandon Webb and pitch Owings.

Padres 9, Brewers 5

Milwaukee – The Brewers made five errors, their most in eight years, and Scott Hairston drove in three runs to lead the Padres over Milwaukee.

While San Diego maintained its one-game lead in the NL wild-card race and stayed one game back of Arizona in the NL West, the Brewers failed for the second straight day to take advantage of a Chicago loss.

Astros 4, Reds 3

Cincinnati – Carlos Lee’s RBI single in the ninth inning broke a tie and the Astros beat Cincinnati.

Marlins 6, Cubs 4

Miami – Struggling to avert another collapse, the Chicago Cubs stranded 10 runners and lost to the last-place Florida Marlins for the third game in a row.

Rockies 10, Dodgers 4

Los Angeles – The Rockies extended their franchise-record winning streak to 11 games.