On the first day of what figures to be a defining 16 straight games against five of the best teams in baseball, the Mets got uneven performances from Jonathon Niese and Bobby Parnell, an awful one from Manny Acosta, another hitless game from David Wright and managed to lose another shortstop.



In other words, it was a game with all the bad karma elements the doomsayers had predicted from Day 1 would ultimately define this Mets season.



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Alas, the opponent was no longer the San Diego Padres, victims of back-to-back shutouts tossed by the Mets in the two games prior. It was instead Charlie Manuel's five-time defending NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies come to Citi Field for this Memorial Day matinee — and, well, it just wasn't the same, was it?



Oh, there were examples of that comeback Met moxie that had so helped in their effort to forge their 27-21 record, good for second place in the NL East.



Those highlights arrived as both Scott Hairston and the feel-good journeyman utility guy, Vinny Rottino, each erased two-run deficits with two-run homers off Cole Hamels in the sixth and fifth, respectively.



But at the end of the day, it was Phillies 8, Mets 4; Wright's batting average, in Ty Cobb territory only a few days ago, was down to .373; Justin Turner had become the latest Met to go on the disabled list and Terry Collins, who already has no timetable as to when his catcher, Josh Thole, would return, was uncertain as to who his shortstop will be as they move forward on this critical 16-game journey. Adding insult to injury, Acosta, who entered the game with a 10.80 ERA, exited it with an 11.86 number after serving up a game-breaking three-run homer to Ty Wigginton in the ninth and doubtless earned himself a ticket to Buffalo on the first available flight out.



It's Amazin' how so many things could go wrong in one game after so many things have been going right. As Collins said, however, it's all part of baseball and why his team simply has to keep "grinding." Of course, it would help if Collins didn't keep losing players every day, just as he did last year when the injuries finally took their toll on what had been an inspiring first four months.



The regular shortstop, Ruben Tejada, continues a slow recovery from a thigh injury. No one knows quite how his replacement, Ronny Cedeno, hurt his calf on Saturday, but he begged out of that game and has been unavailable ever since. And then Monday, handyman Justin Turner, sprained his ankle in a rundown in the third inning, leaving Collins no choice but to ask Wright to take over at shortstop.



Presumably, the new shortstop come Tuesday will be Omar Quintanilla, who was called up from Buffalo, even though earlier Collins had said he thought he might also be hurt.



Then there was Niese, who labored for 115 pitches over five innings, and Parnell, who came on in the seventh, right after Hairston had tied the game with his homer. Parnell gave up the go-ahead run on an RBI single to Wigginton, the ex-Met turned Met-killer. It's uncertain if Parnell might have gotten out of the inning unscathed had Wright's foot not been off the bag at second when the pitcher attempted to get a 1-6-3 double play on Placido Polanco's comebacker to the mound.



It was just a tough day all around for Wright, whose throwing error in the first helped turn the inning into a 29-pitch exercise for Niese, and was followed by a double-play grounder in the fourth and an inning-ending groundout with Andres Torres at third in the eighth.



"It just goes to show David Wright is human," said Collins, "and that he can get into a funk like anyone else."



Yet, with all that transpired Monday, Collins can only hope this was not the start of a team-wide funk.