Carlos Delgado knocked in four runs with two home runs and a single to lead the New York Mets to a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the nightcap of a day-night doubleheader.

By avoiding the sweep, the Mets hold the Phillies two games back in the N.L. East. The two teams will not face again in the regular season.

Mets ace Johan Santana gave up a run on a walk and two singles in the first inning but settled in to pitch a gem, going 7 1/3 innings while giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 6.

Santana lost his no-no in the first when Chase Utley singled to center to make it 7,463 games without a New York Mets no-hitter.

Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes finished off the eighth inning, and Luis Ayala saved the game despite letting in a run on a pair of infield singles and a sacrifice fly.

Also having a big night at the plate was Damion Easley, who went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple.

The Mets again were unable to get it going against the Phillies’ starting pitching Sunday afternoon as Jamie Moyer shut down the lineup to lead Philadelphia to a 6-2 win in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Moyer dominated Mets batters for 7 innings, giving up just two hits and three walks.

The Mets had to wait for the Phils’ bullpen to finally get on board, with David Wright and Carlos Beltran hitting back-to-back RBI doubles in the eighth.

Pedro Martinez lasted just four innings, giving up six earned runs on seven hits. He lost his no-hitter in the second inning when Greg Dobbs doubled to right, making it 7,462 New York Mets games without a no-no.

Johan Santana pitches for the Mets’ in the nightcap.

Philadelphia Phillies starter Brett Myers stifled the Mets’ lineup with a brutal curve ball Friday night to lead the Phils to a 3-0 win that puts the team two games back of the Mets in the N.L. East.

Myers struck out 10 in 8 innings of work while allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks.

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey also pitched brilliantly, but the Phils were able to manufacture an unearned run in the first and Greg Dobbs added a two-run homer in the seventh on a blast that sailed just an inch or so out of the reach of a leaping Ryan Church. The ball nicked the tip of Church’s glove before landing over the right-field fence.

Pelfrey lost his no-hitter in the first inning when Shane Victorino singled to right, making it 7,461 New York Mets games without a no-no. Brian Schneider’s throw on Victorino’s steal attempt sailed into the outfield, allowing Victorino to reach third. Chase Utley then drove him home on a ground-out.

Pelfrey lasted seven innings, yielding just four hits and two walks (both to Ryan Howard) while striking out four.

The Mets were able to get a couple of hits off Phils closer Brad Lidge in the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate, but the team could not finish the job.

Reliever Ricardo Rincon made his debut in a Mets uniform, becoming only the second player in team history to don jersey No. 73. The other 73? Kenny Rogers, remembered either for being the only Met to pitch a perfect game before joining the club (Aug. 28, 1994 - Texas Rangers 4, California Angels 0) or for walking Andruw Jones with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th of Game 6 of the 1999 National League Championship Series. (Visit our friends at Mets By The Numbers for more numeric fun.)

Tomorrow’s probables are Jamie Moyer for Philadelphia and Pedro Martínez for New York.

The Mets scored four eighth-inning runs Wednesday night to beat the Phillies 6-3 and take back first place in the National League East.

Carlos Delgado was the game’s MVP, with two homers and a single for 3 RBIs, and Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes each went 3-for-5 with three singles.

Delgado tied the game in the eighth with a solo homer, and after Beltran singled, Daniel Murphy hit a double down the right field line to put the Mets ahead 4-3. Brian Schneider then sneaked a blooper behind third base to score Ryan Church and Murphy.

Santana was less than spectacular but made some big pitches when he needed to. He lasted six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out six, including two big ones in the sixth.

Santana lost his no-hitter on the first batter when Jimmy Rollins hit a broken-bat blooper into left-center, bumping our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,454 Mets games without a no-hitter. It marked the 34th time this season that a potential Mets no-no was broken up on the first at bat. (See our No-hitters killed by first at bat page for more details on leadoff hits.)

Shane Victorino led off the bottom of the 13th inning with a triple and Chris Coste drove him home early Wednesday morning as the Philadelphia Phillies overcame a 7-0 deficit to beat the New York Mets and take over first place in the N.L. East.

The Mets jumped on starter Jamie Moyer early when Jose Reyes led off with a triple in the gap and Damion Easley singled him home. The Mets then loaded the bases for Fernando Tatis, who made it 2-0 with a single to center.

Easley followed up in the second inning with a homer to left center, and then Tatis fouled off a seemingly endless barrage of pitches from Moyer before launching a fastball over the left field fence for a 3-run home run to make it 6-0.

But the Phillies creeped back, beginning in the fourth when they got their first run on a groundout. Rollins and Ryan Howard both hit two-run homers in the fifth to make it 7-5.

The Mets loaded the bases in the sixth but couldn’t capitalize, letting the Phils complete their comback with a run on three singles in the eighth and a pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth.

Reliever Aaron Heilman pitched out of jams in the 10th and 11th innings, and then retired the side in the 12th, finishing with a 3-2 slider that froze Ryan Howard.

But after giving up a leadoff triple to Victorino and intentionally walking the bases loaded, Scott Schowenweis could get just one out - a strikeout of the Phils relief pitcher - before letting Coste hit the ball into centerfield for a walk-off win.

Martinez again lost his no-hitter on the first batter, giving up a double down the right field line to Jimmy Rollins. That marked the fourth time this month that the leadoff batter has tagged Martinez (the other three were home runs) and the 911th time in the Mets’ 46+ year history that a potential Mets no-hitter was broken up by a leadoff hit. (See our No-hitters killed by first at bat page for more details on leadoff hits.) Our NoNoHitters.com count is now at 7,453.

Easley nearly became the 10th Met to hit for the cycle with an RBI single in the first, a solo homer in the second, a triple in the fourth and a bunt single in the sixth. He was due to lead off the 14th inning if the Mets could have made it that far.

The New York Mets’ magic number is 60.

OK, so maybe it’s a little early to be talking magic numbers - especially in light of last season’s finish - but the Mets did grab sole possession of first place in the National League East Thursday afternoon with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Oliver Perez threw 7 2/3 strong innings of one-run ball while striking out 12, keeping it tied until Carlos Delgado put the Mets out front with a two-out, two-run double in the eighth.

Billy Wagner again got the save, but the win went to Aaron Heilman, who pitched to just one batter but got Jayson Werth to fly out to center to end the eighth.

Perez lost his bid for the first New York Mets no hitter in the first inning when Pat Burrell singled to left, putting the “tragic number” - a k a our NoNoHitters.com count - at 7,422 games.

Jose Reyes’ 11th homer of the season broke a 3-3 deadlock and led the Mets to a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and another share of the N.L. East lead.

The Mets managed to score two runs in the first without a hit thanks to four walks and a mishandled groundout to first that should have been a double-play. But the Phils fired back in the top of the second when starter John Maine gave up back-to-back homers to Shane Victorino and Geoff Jenkins. The first of those homers bumped our NoNoHitters.com count up to 7,421 games without a New York Mets no-hitter.

Maine settled down and went seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

The Mets loaded the bases again in the third inning and took the lead on a Damion Easley infield hit to short, but the Phillies rallied back to tie the game at 3 on a Jimmy Rollins double to right-center.

Easley started a sixth-inning rally with another infield hit, which was followed by a Brian Schneider single and the Reyes home run.

Easley tried to jump-start another rally in the seventh with his third infield hit of the night. But after Schneider doubled, pinch hitter Fernando Tatis grounded out and Reyes reached base on an intentional walk, Endy Chavez ended the inning on a ground out.

The Mets once again failed to get any insurance runs in the eighth despite having two runners in scoring position, so instead of turning to last night’s bullpen-by-committee approach they opted for closer Billy Wager.

Wagner shut the door, and the Mets are back tied for first.

When your ace starting pitcher gives you eight solid innings and leaves you up 5-2 in the ninth, you’re pretty much expecting a happy blog post.

But with Billy Wagner suffering from shoulder muscle spasms, the Mets bullpen gave up six ninth-inning runs to squander a more than win-worthy performance by Johan Santana.

This is not the way to start a three-game series with your co-N.L. East leaders … or should I say former co-N.L. East leaders, as the Mets are now a game back

Pat Burrell’s single to left in the first killed Santana’s no-hitter bid, marking the 7,420th time a Mets pitcher has failed in that department. One positive is that Santana surpassed 1,500 career strikeouts.

Not much more to say about this game

The New York Mets are back above .500 after squeaking by the Philadelphia Phillies 10-9 to take three of four from the N.L. East leaders.

The Mets’ offense exploded for 17 hits with 3-hit games from Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and Fernando Tatis. The win puts the Mets just 2 1/2 games back in the division.

Starter Pedro Martinez lost his no-hitter when Ryan Howard singled to center in the second inning (that boosts our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,309 games without a Mets no-hitter). Martinez lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up five hits (two of them homers) and two earned runs to improve to 3-2 on the season.

The Phils pulled within 5, thanks in part to a crappy changed call on a deep fly ball hit by Ryan Howard that was originally ruled a double. The replay clearly showed the fan reaching in front of the wall, but after indisputable discussions between four guys with no access to replay, the call was changed prompting a Jerry Manuel ejection.

Then they scored 2 runs each in the eighth and ninth inning until Chavez caught the final ball to end it. Whew!

Fernando Tatís hit a two-run homer in the top of the 12 inning to save closer Billy Wagner and lead the New York Mets to a 4-2 win over the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

The Mets had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, but Wagner gave up a two-out homer to Jayson Werth to send the rain-delayed contest into extra innings. That blew a superb performance by starter Oliver Perez, who allowed no runs and just four hits over seven innings.

Carlos Beltran had the Mets’ previous two RBIs, going 3-for-6 with a solo homer and a pair of singles.

Perez lost his chance for a no-hitter in the first inning when Jimmy Rollins reached base on an infield single, putting the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,408 games without a Mets no-hitter.

The win puts the Mets 3 1/2 games back with one contest left in the four-game series. Scheduled starters for Monday night’s finale are Pedro Martínez and Adam Eaton.