PHILADELPHIA - The Mets already knew that cozy Citizens Bank Park played small. But that took on a whole new meaning last night when the Phillies tied the score on Aaron Rowand's 40-foot roller down the third-base line in the eighth inning.

It was a helpless feeling. David Wright, Paul Lo Duca and Aaron Heilman all hunched over, hoping and praying the ball would roll foul. In the 10th inning, the Mets felt powerless again, only this time they watched in unison as Ryan Howard blasted a two-run homer off Guillermo Mota into the left field seats.

As the Mets plodded off the field, wondering where they went wrong in this 4-2 loss, the Phillies whooped and hollered around Howard at home plate. In three days, the Mets have lost three games in the standings to Philadelphia, and their lead is now down to four in the NL East.

“We can't blame anybody but ourselves,” Wright said. “We can't be defensive and fend teams off for the rest of the year. We've got to be aggressive.”

Carlos Delgado's two-run homer off Adam Eaton in the second inning gave the Mets an early 2-0 lead. But they finished 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven in wasting a superb effort from Tom Glavine, who pitched seven scoreless innings. Manager Willie Randolph pulled Glavine after 102 pitches well short of his season high of 122 but six outs wasn't too much to ask from his bullpen.

“I was done,” Glavine said. “I didn't have a whole lot left.”

Mota, who was coming off two scoreless innings Sunday, retired the Phillies in order in ninth. But Shane Victorino opened the 10th with a single to center and Howard crushed a 1-and-2 changeup for his 35th home run. It was Howard's second homer off Mota in three career at-bats.

“He's a power hitter, so I tried to go with my best,” Mota said.

If not for a bizarre eighth inning, the Mets might have held on. Pedro Feliciano was called in to begin the eighth and the odds were in his favor. He had handled both Jimmy Rollins (2-for-12) and Chase Ultley (3-for-14) well in the past, but Rollins smacked a leadoff homer into the left field seats.

One out later, Feliciano walked Pat Burrell on four pitches, and he was replaced by the pinch runner Victorino. Howard flied out on the first pitch, but that's when the Mets' 2-1 lead dissolved in maddening fashion.

With Rowand at the plate, Victorino stole second, then continued to third when Paul Lo Duca's throw skipped past Luis Castillo into centerfield for an error. The difference between second and third didn't seem like a huge deal with two outs, but it wound up being critical. Randolph thought Castillo should have blocked that ball, but Lo Duca took the blame.

“I stepped on home plate,” Lo Duca said. “Everything that could go wrong that inning went wrong.”

Phillies 4

Mets 2

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Mets at Phillies, 7 p.m., SNY