While Pedro Martinez tended to his garden and dogs, and Jose Reyes went hitless merely because no game was there to play, the Phillies went on an emotional merry-go-round Monday, in a 12-inning Papi-engineered loss.

Thus, as has happened a few times this season, without any work by the Mets, their magic number still took a hit, dropping to …

 

76.

That’s over not just Philly, but Florida, which trails the Mets by 12 games in the loss column. The Phillies also trail by 12 in the division, the Mets’ biggest lead of the season and easily the biggest lead of any division pacer.

Really, stop me if this is gettiing old: JOSE REYES HAD ANOTHER HIT. AND ANOTHER. AND ANOTHER. AND ANOTHER.

Oh, and Carlos Beltran smacked a clutch homer, Steve Trachsel even was good enough to win his fourth straight and the bullpen was good enough to give the Mets a 7-4 win Sunday, which lowered their magic number to a mere…

77.

That’s over the Phillies, who can thank the clash of a high and low pressure system over Boston for not having to lose to the red-hot Red Sox.

Saturday was another day when things can go very wrong (Randolph’s visit/non-visit to El Duque, El Duque’s performance itself culminating in the eventual 7-4 loss), but still not be a lost day (the ball is clearly the size of a watermelon to Jose Reyes, Darren Oliver’s relief outing).

And of course, there was another Phillies loss, this one courtesy of a Big Papi walk-off, something that’s really nice to enjoy from a distance and something we hopefully won’t have to see much of next week.  But Philly has company atop the second division of the NL East, beacuse when the Mets’ magic number fell to …

78…

… it was also over the Marlins, who also trail the Mets by 11 in the loss column. The Fish are 13 out of first, though, with the Phillies "only" 11 back.

The Mets’ return to the Great White North was indeed quite great, with David Wright being David Wright, Lastings Milledge going long and Tom Glavine getting it together again in a nifty 6-1 win. We’ll worry about Duaner Sanchez once we know the extent of his injury.

The win, when combined with the reeling Phillies’ effort in Boston, dipped the Mets’ magic number to just…

79.

I mean, really. The Mets have an 11-game lead on June 23rd. On this day in 1986, their lead over second-place Montreal was nine games.

Pedro was more human than not (walking five over six), but he was resilient enough to earn win No. 7 on Thursday. And Jose Reyes and David Wright — "the left side of the infield for the next decade," so long as free agency or cost-cutting doesn’t come along — resumed their superhuman play, and all right around lunchtime.

It all added up to a wholly satisfying 6-2 victory over the Reds on Thursday afternoon. With the Phillies licking their wounds after dropping two of three to the Skanks, the Mets’ magic number trips down to …

81.

******* you, Yankees. Why must you deliver the only good news of the day.

Well, it wasn’t all bad for the Mets, I suppose, with Jose Reyes whipping up a cycle and Jose Valentin’s wild mustache ride continuing for another night on Wednesday. But Billy Wagner frustrated with a ninth-inning blowup — still, I don’t miss Armando Benitez — as the Mets broke hearts with a 6-5 loss to the Reds.

Still, those Yankees. They helped us out again, shutting out the phlailing Phillies. So, erm, thank you, for helping drop thge Mets’ magic number to…

82. 

‘Tis over Philly.

I guess it could be worse — the Cards have been outscored by the White Sox 33-11.

And everything returns to normal. The new normal of ’06, that is. Xavier Nady, give it to me.  Xavier Nady, give it to me two time.

Jose Reyes: Still on fire.

Steve Trachsel: Hey, that was a homer AND a quality start.

The Mets showed many a flash of what made them 9-1 on the road in a nice 9-2 stomping of the Reds on Tuesday. Combined with Philly’s loss to the Yankees — really, a pox on all of their houses, and throw the Braves in there, too — the Mets’ magic number took a dip to …

83.

Of course, that’s over the Phillies, who again dropped to 9 1/2 games out of first. The Mets are back on pace to win 102 games on the season.

A weird win — where players lose the ball in their jerseys and interference is actually called — is still a win, and when you can no longer count on the Phillies to lower your magic number for you, you take things into your own hands. At least into David Wright’s hands. The Mets snapped a little two-game skid thanks to the MVP candidate Sunday, when he drove in five runs — capped by a lovely grand slam– in the Mets’ 9-4 win over the Birds, a win that lowered the Mets’ magic number to… 

85.

That’s over Phlly, which remained 9 1/2 out. They would be 24 games over the Royals had the divisions worked out.

So while the Mets have hit something of a brick wall while facing an oddly solid Orioles club, the Phillies have run into the dreaded shredder that is the Devil Rays. So, go ahead Kris Benson, outduel Pedro Martinez and even hit a home run in a 4-2 Mets loss Saturday, and by all means take Anna out for a drink tonight — and don’t forget to send us pictures! Thus far, ‘sall good (at the moment), so long as Philly’s losing streak hit six in a loss to Tampa Bay, which helped the Mets’ magic number drop to the very magical number of … 

86.

The Braves, mind you, have dropped into a last-place tie with the Fighting Fish of Miami, 13 games out, which supposedly is the low-water mark for the club since 1991. The club formerly known as the Expos have leapfrogged into third place, while the Phillies remain 9 1/2 out.

Just like the saying goes: All good things come to a crashing, wholly unsatisfying end. And such was the case of the Mets’ eight-game winning streak on Friday, when a flimsy performance by Aaron Heilman led the club into a 6-3 loss to the visiting O’s.

But the sun still shone on Metsdom regardless, with Julio Lugo (two HRs) handling the paddle in a 10-4 spanking of the Phillies that lowered the Mets’ magic number to…

87.