NEW YORK (AP) -- Sweat dripping from his brow at steamy Shea

Stadium, Pedro Martinez had a two-run lead and a terrific chance to

put the Mets ahead in the NL wild-card chase.

He just couldn't keep the Phillies in the ballpark.

Chase Utley hit two of Philadelphia's four homers off the New

York ace, Brett Myers pitched seven strong innings and the Phillies

bounced back from an early deficit for an 8-2 victory Wednesday

night.

"I could sense I didn't have my best stuff," Martinez said.

"I tried to hold them as long as I could."

Ryan Howard and Mike Lieberthal also connected for Philadelphia,

which stopped a three-game skid and sent New York to its fourth

loss in 12 games. The Phillies (71-62) regained sole possession of

the wild-card lead, a half-game ahead of Houston.

Martinez (13-6) had a 2-0 cushion and an opportunity to push the

Mets in front of their NL East rivals, but failed to do it. The

four home runs he gave up matched a career high, set twice in

consecutive starts for Boston in June 1998.

"I didn't feel as good as I would like to, but I feel pretty

good," Martinez said. "Their concentration level was so high that

every time I made a mistake, they hit them out."

The right-hander gave up five runs and eight hits in seven

innings, dropping to 1-3 in his past seven starts.

"I think his velocity was down tonight," Phillies manager

Charlie Manuel said. "I think we kind of figured him out."

Myers (12-6) allowed six hits and struck out seven, improving to

6-1 in his last 10 starts. He has yielded only three runs in 14

innings at Shea this season, going 2-0 in two starts.

"In order for you to be an ace or considered an ace, you've got

to step up and match the other teams' aces," Myers said. "This

was a big game for us."

One night after blowing a lead, Ugueth Urbina struck out two in

a perfect eighth to preserve a 5-2 advantage.

Bobby Abreu added a two-out, two-run double off Heath Bell in

the ninth, and Pat Burrell had an RBI single.

Philadelphia's Kenny Lofton made two over-the-shoulder catches

in deep center in the sixth, saving at least one run.

"He reminded me of Kenny Lofton of yesteryear," Mets manager

Willie Randolph said. "Those were big plays. They could have

gotten us back in the game."

With the score tied at 2, Lieberthal led off the seventh with

his 11th home run. Utley added a two-run shot to center for No. 21

on the year and his third career multihomer game -- his second in

five days.

"You're not trying to hit home runs off that kind of guy,

you're just trying to put the ball in play and make things happen,

and I think we did a good job of that," Utley said.

Utley became the fourth player with a multihomer game against

Martinez and the first since Andres Galarraga on June 10, 1998,

according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other players were Ellis

Burks in 1996 and Bobby Estalella in 1997.

Carlos Beltran singled with two outs in the first, stole second

and scored on Cliff Floyd's single up the middle.

Ramon Castro connected in the second for a 2-0 Mets lead, giving

him home runs in consecutive at-bats after his go-ahead, three-run

drive in the eighth inning Tuesday night.

Subbing nicely for injured catcher Mike Piazza, Castro has made

the most of his 40 hits this season. He has 37 RBI and a

career-best seven homers, and his latest long ball drew another

quick curtain call from the crowd of 43,780.

"They were really loud," Myers said. "It felt like 100,000,

so it was fun to pitch."

Howard hit his 11th homer in the fourth, an opposite-field shot

to left that ended Martinez's 15-inning scoreless streak. Utley's

homer leading off the sixth tied it at 2.Game notes
The Phillies are 9-1 in Myers' last 10 starts. ... Martinez

needed only eight pitches to get through the third inning. ... The

Mets fell to 15-6 in their last 21 home games. The Phillies are

12-6 in their past 18 on the road. ... Martinez dropped to 7-4 in

19 outings against Philadelphia. ... New York 3B David Wright went

0-for-2, ending his 11-game hitting streak. ... The Mets will call

up LHP Kazuhisa Ishii, RHP Shingo Takatsu and LHP Tim Hamulack from

Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday when active rosters expand to 40. All

three should be available for the series finale. ... The Phillies

will call up RHP Geoff Geary, INF Matt Kata, RHP Pedro Liriano, C

A.J. Hinch and OF Shane Victorino from Triple-A

Scranton-Wilkes/Barre. Victorino was the International League MVP.