Jerry Manuel still calls it a bullpen, but the proper term might be bull excrement.
The stench permeated the air above Shea Stadium late this afternoon and had the Mets in a daze, after a four-run lead over the Pirates evaporated in the final three innings.
In a performance that left fans pining for the good old days of Armando Benitez, Aaron Heilman tossed a live grenade into a bonfire, allowing four of the five batters he faced to reach base in the ninth inning, capping a brutal 7-5 loss to Pittsburgh.
“We probably need to make some adjustments,” a dumfounded Manuel said after watching his bullpen collapse for a fifth time in 10 games. “We can’t continue to perform this way later in a game.”
Saying “everything” is a possibility in save situations as the Mets await Billy Wagner’s return from the disabled list — including using starting pitchers to make cameos — Manuel acknowledged that Heilman probably no longer will be an option.
Rookie Eddie Kunz, Manuel said, could be the Mets’ closer when the team opens a three-game series Tuesday in Washington.
“I wasn’t hitting my spots the way I wanted to, and I fell behind hitters, so I made it tougher on myself than it had to be,” Heilman said.
The final dagger was Steve Pearce’s two-run single against Scott Schoeneweis after Heilman (2-7) had allowed a run in the ninth then loaded the bases with one out. Though Heilman recorded consecutive saves against the Marlins on Friday and Saturday, he has allowed runs in four of his past seven appearances.
Wasted was a strong start from Pedro Martinez, who allowed one earned run on three hits and four walks over six innings. The bullpen’s meltdown began when Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano combined to allow three runs in the seventh.
“These games are going to come back, and we’re going to end up killing ourselves,” Schoeneweis said. “We have to win these games.”
Schoeneweis nearly let one escape Thursday, when the Padres tied the game in the ninth against him on Jody Gerut’s homer, but David Wright’s two-run blast in the bottom of the inning won it. Two days earlier, Heilman surrendered a three-run homer to Gerut in the ninth, but the Mets escaped with a 6-5 victory.
“We have an entire bullpen struggling at the same time and you don’t have a closer, it’s tough,” Schoeneweis said.
The Pirates got three runs and pulled within 5-4 in the seventh before Duaner Sanchez (the third reliever of the inning) retired Andy LaRoche with the tying run at third base.
In the ninth, Heilman struck out Nate McLouth, but Luis Rivas followed with a single and Doug Mientkiewicz walked. Ryan Doumit then hit a shot to right that barely missed clearing the fence. Painfully slow, Doumit stopped at first with an RBI single (Rivas was halted at third) before Heilman plunked LaRoche to load the bases.
Schoeneweis got an out without a run scoring before Pearce provided the Pirates with their margin of victory by drilling a single to left.
Wright’s three-run homer against Zach Duke had the Mets headed in the right direction, and Robinson Cancel led off the sixth with his first major-league homer, giving the Mets a 5-1 lead.
“This is obviously a tough one to swallow,” Wright said. “As tough as this is, we have to regroup, refocus and not allow this to carry over into this road trip.”