METS DROP 13TH STRAIGHT WITH LOSS TO PHILS
Leiter Loses No-Hitter, Game in 6th

PHILADELPHIA, May 27 (AP) - The New York Mets lost their 13th consecutive game, falling 3-2 at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium.  Mets starter Al Leiter took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but surrendered all three Phillies runs in that frame and fell to 1-9 on the season.  Philadelphia starter Randy Wolf (3-4) surrendered a two-run home run to Ty Wigginton in the first, but stiffened after that and tossed six effective innings, lasting just long enough to qualify for the victory.

Tsuyoshi Shinjo's one out single in the top of the first preceded Wigginton's third homer of the season, which landed in the bullpen beyond the left field wall and gave New York a 2-0 advantage. 

Leiter retired the first six Phillies batters before walking Jason Michaels to open the bottom of the third, but then erased him by inducing Marlon Byrd to ground into a 3-6 double play, which was very nicely turned by Mets first baseman Jason Phillips.

After the walk to Michaels, Leiter set down nine straight hitters before yielding Marlon Byrd's one-out double into the left field corner.  At that point, the wheels came loose.  Nick Punto pinch hit for Wolf and stroked a single to left, scoring Byrd and cutting the Mets' lead to 2-1.  Jimmy Rollins followed by lacing a double into the right-center field gap, scoring Punto to tie the game.  Placido Polanco then lined a base hit to left, plating Rollins with the lead run.

Leiter ultimately stifled the Philadelphia rally and went on to toss a scoreless seventh as well, but the damage had been done.

In the ninth, Jose Mesa came on to close out the game for the Phillies.  He retired pinch hitter Raul Gonzalez on a grounder to third baseman David Bell but Wigginton punched a single to right-center, bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate.  Mesa ran the count to 3-2 on Cliff Floyd before striking him out, but Wigginton was running on the pitch and stole second.  With the tying run in scoring position, Mesa reared back and blew strike three past Phillips to end the game, picking up his ninth save of the year in the process.

The 13-game losing streak for the Mets is the longest of the year thus far in the major leagues.  The National League high had been held by the Cincinnati Reds, who dropped 11 in a row in the first half of April.  The Detroit Tigers hold the American League's longest streak--10 games--which exactly paralleled Cincinnati's woes--April 11 through April 23.  New York's last victory came on May 12, over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.  Dating back to May 3, the Mets have lost 20 of their last 22 contests.

5/27/2003, NYM03-Phi03, Veterans Stadium
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2003 Mets              2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     2  5  0     3  1
2003 Phillies          0  0  0  0  0  3  0  0  x     3  6  0     4  1
 
Mets                 AB  R  H BI   AVG    Phillies             AB  R  H BI   AVG
Alomar,R          2b  4  0  0  0  .284    Rollins           ss  4  1  1  1  .290
Shinjo            cf  3  1  1  0  .136    Polanco           2b  4  0  1  1  .255
 Gonzalez,R       ph  1  0  0  0  .316    Thome             1b  3  0  1  0  .335
Wigginton         3b  4  1  2  2  .268    Burrell           lf  4  0  0  0  .196
Floyd             lf  4  0  0  0  .256     Mesa             p   0  0  0  0  .000
Phillips,JL       1b  4  0  1  0  .265    Bell,D            3b  3  0  0  0  .202
Burnitz           rf  3  0  0  0  .268    Lieberthal        c   3  0  0  0  .266
Wilson,V          c   2  0  1  0  .250    Michaels          rf  2  0  1  0  .364
Sanchez,R         ss  2  0  0  0  .165    Byrd              cf  3  1  1  0  .306
 Cedeno           ph  1  0  0  0  .286    Wolf              p   1  0  0  0  .095
 McEwing          ss  0  0  0  0  .205     Punto            ph  1  1  1  1  .429
Leiter            p   2  0  0  0  .000     Wendell          p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Clark,T          ph  1  0  0  0  .216     Perez,To         ph  1  0  0  0  .352
 Cone             p   0  0  0  0  .143     Adams            p   0  0  0  0  .000
                     31  2  5  2           Ledee            lf  0  0  0  0  .230
                                                               29  3  6  3
 
Mets                             INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Leiter           L 1-9           7.0  6  3  3  1  6 108  73  6.56
Cone                             1.0  0  0  0  1  1  14   8  4.64
                                 8.0  6  3  3  2  7 122  81
 
Phillies                         INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Wolf             W 3-4           6.0  4  2  2  1  5  76  48  4.48
Wendell          H 7             1.0  0  0  0  0  1  11   7  1.61
Adams            H 8             1.0  0  0  0  0  0  11   6  2.42
Mesa             S 9             1.0  1  0  0  0  2  19  11  6.95
                                 9.0  5  2  2  1  8 117  72
 
NYM: Cedeno batted for Sanchez,R in the 8th
     Clark,T batted for Leiter in the 8th
     McEwing inserted at ss in the 8th
     Gonzalez,R batted for Shinjo in the 9th
Phi: Punto batted for Wolf in the 6th
     Perez,To batted for Wendell in the 7th
     Ledee inserted at lf in the 9th
 
2B-Rollins(23), Byrd(6). HR-Wigginton(4). RBI-Wigginton 2(27), Rollins(26),
Polanco(20), Punto(5). SB-Wigginton(3). K-Alomar,R 2, Floyd 3, Phillips,JL,
Burnitz, Leiter, Thome 2, Burrell 2, Bell,D, Wolf, Perez,To. BB-Wilson,V,
Thome, Michaels.
GWRBI: Polanco
Temperature: 60, Sky: cloudy, Wind: in from center at 4 MPH.
Attendance: 20,087
Game Time: 2:18