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          New York Mets

          Rapid Reaction: Phillies 14, Mets 8

          • Kieran Darcy, ESPN Staff WriterSep 2, 2015, 02:37 AM
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              Kieran Darcy is an ESPN.com staff writer. He joined ESPN in August 2000 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, where he played four years of JV basketball.
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          NEW YORK -- The New York Mets had beaten the Philadelphia Phillies 10 times in a row entering Tuesday night's game.

          The streak is over, that's for sure.

          Jonathon Niese had a third consecutive poor outing, and the Mets' bullpen was even worse, leading to a 14-8 Phillies victory.

          The Mets fall to 73-59 and are currently six games in front of the Washington Nationals in the National League East, with Washington playing in St. Louis tonight.

          The Phillies are now 53-80.

          Sound familiar? When Niese faced the Phillies five days ago, he gave up five runs in the third inning. The same thing happened Tuesday, only this time the Mets lost the ballgame.

          Freddy Galvis led off the frame with a double and scored on a Darnell Sweeney single. Sweeney eventually scored on a Jeff Francoeur single, and then Darin Ruf hit a three-run homer to make it 5-0.

          Niese gave up another run in the fifth inning, which was his final one. He's now 8-10 on the season with a 4.17 ERA.

          Comeback bid: The Mets got back in the game in the bottom of the fifth. Travis d'Arnaud walked and eventually scored on a Kelly Johnson pinch-hit single. Ruben Tejada, who had singled, scored on a Curtis Granderson groundout. And then Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer, cutting the Mets' deficit to 6-4. That was all for Phillies starter Aaron Harang.

          The Mets scored four more runs off the Phillies' bullpen later on, but by then the game was already out of hand. David Wright led off the sixth with a single and eventually scored on a d'Arnaud groundout. Cespedes had a triple in the seventh and scored on a Daniel Murphy single. Michael Cuddyer walked and came home on a Wilmer Flores single in the eighth. And Eric Campbell doubled and came home on a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly in the ninth. It wasn't nearly enough.

          Bullpen blowup: Bobby Parnell replaced Niese in the top of the sixth, and the inning quickly turned into a disaster.

          Parnell walked the first two batters he faced and then committed a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt, allowing one run to score. He was booed lustily on his way to the dugout.

          Eric O'Flaherty was next, and walked the only batter he faced. Carlos Torres replaced him and immediately gave up a two-run double to Sweeney, making it 9-4.

          Torres retired the next two batters, but then walked Francoeur and gave up a two-run single to Ruf. Andres Blanco drove home Francoeur and Ruf with a double, and then scored himself on a Tejada throwing error, increasing the Phillies' lead to 14-4.

          All told, the Phillies scored eight runs in the sixth inning on just three hits, with four walks and two Mets errors. You can't have a much uglier inning than that.

          What's next: The rubber game of his three-game series. Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.48) will start for the Mets, opposed by Aaron Nola (5-1, 3.26), with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.