J.C. Romero and Tom Gordon combined to allow three runs in the eighth after the Phillies had taken a one-run lead, and the New York Mets went on to a 9-4 victory that broke the Phils' four-game winning streak in front of a sellout crowd of 45,190.

Gordon came on for Romero in the eighth with two runners on base but couldn't get out of the jam. Brian Schneider, the third pinch-hitter New York manager Jerry Manuel sent to the plate in the inning, delivered the key blow with a two-out, two-run double that broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Mets the lead for good.

Gordon, who blew his first save since Aug. 25, 2007, said he did not feel any effects from the arm fatigue he experienced earlier this season.

"I felt like I was starting to get into a pretty good rhythm," he said. "I didn't have any complications at all. I was just trying to throw strikes, and unfortunately I got behind on some guys. They're a tough team when they're ahead in the count. I wasn't throwing strikes early, and they sat on the [later] pitches."

The Phillies had taken a 4-3 lead in the seventh on a pinch-hit RBI single by Jayson Werth and looked to be in command, as evidenced by their 33-2 record this season when leading after seven innings.

But their relief corps, which had pitched 41/3 scoreless innings Friday night and led the National League with a 2.62 earned run average, was not up to the task last night.

"Our bullpen has been very good, and tonight they didn't hold them," manager Charlie Manuel said. "Tonight it looked like [Gordon] was scuffling with his command. Our bullpen was scuffling with their command."

One member of the bullpen, Ryan Madson, came through in the seventh after starter Jamie Moyer left with two outs and the bases loaded. Madson got David Wright on a broken-bat groundout to short.

Moyer, who allowed three or fewer earned runs for his sixth consecutive start, did not figure in the decision and doesn't have a win since June 12. He said the bullpen's performance was just one of those games.

"It's going to happen," Moyer said. "When you play 162 games, you can't expect everybody to be perfect. I think our bullpen has done an outstanding job for us. It's one of the reasons why we are where we are. The effort was there - we just fell short."

Gordon had picked up the save in his most recent appearance, a one-pitch outing Thursday night in Atlanta. Last night, he enabled the Mets to tie the game with his fourth pitch, a wild pitch, and it went downhill from there.

"I think because the bullpen has pitched well, guys have gone out there every day and got opportunities for Charlie to be able to count on them in those situations," Gordon said. "So I think it's been a great thing for us. Late in the game, we've been comfortable and doing some good things. It's always tough when you lose the game late."

Rudy Seanez allowed three runs in the ninth. Two were unearned, but only because of Seanez's error when he failed to handle a hard comebacker by Carlos Beltran.

The Phillies weren't exactly an offensive juggernaut last night, getting outhit by 14-4. Before the fateful eighth, they had three hits but were up, 4-3, getting their first three runs on Ryan Howard's 23d home run of the season, a shot to left field in the fourth.

Howard's blow was the first hit allowed by John Maine, who had retired the first 10 batters he faced, and also erased Maine's shutout and lead. Maine left the game in the sixth with a cramp in his left (non-throwing) forearm, but the Mets said he is not expected to miss his next turn.

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