Brewers 5 Mets 4

MILWAUKEE – Many times this season the Mets have won games late, with clutch homers or big hits.

But the reverse – the Mets losing a game late – hadn’t happened nearly as much. Indeed, when tied or leading after seven innings, the Mets owned a 15-1 record this year.

At least they did heading into yesterday.

Loss number two came in Miller Park as the Mets suffered a 5-4 defeat to the Brewers as Milwaukee scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. It spoiled the Mets’ hopes of a sweep and stopped their four-game winning streak.

“Obviously we’ve been playing pretty well in the late innings,” manager Willie Randolph said. “But sometimes it goes back the other way.”

What bothered the Mets most about yesterday’s loss, though, was how it went down.

With the game tied at 4-4, Mike DeJean entered to pitch the ninth. With one out, he gave up a single to Junior Spivey. And on the first pitch to the next batter, Chad Moeller, Spivey broke for second.

The Mets had called a pitchout, though, and Mike Piazza gunned it to second. The throw short-hopped Miguel Cairo, but it was still a close play. The Mets thought Spivey was out.

“I didn’t see a replay, but it looked like he was out to me,” Randolph said.

“He was out,” Cairo said.

“He was out, man,” Jose Reyes said.

But second base umpire Dana DeMuth called him safe.

“I like Dana a lot. He’s a really good umpire,” DeJean said. “I just think he missed the call. It happens. Unfortunately it happened at a time of the game where there’s no margin of error out of the bullpen.”

Indeed, DeJean struck out Moeller, but pinch hitter J.J. Hardy grounded a single through the hole and into left field. Cliff Floyd fired home, but his peg was up the third-base line. Spivey scored, and the game was over.

Said a seething Piazza of DeMuth’s call: “It doesn’t matter what I think; doesn’t [freaking] matter.”

The Mets (17-15) may be angry about the loss, but they still took the three-game series from the Brewers and nearly pulled out the sweep yesterday.

Tom Glavine has gotten off to an awful start this season, and yesterday he struggled again. He allowed four runs on 11 hits in his six innings, and although five of those hits were bloopers or rollers that found holes, the Mets also threw two runners out at the plate. So it could have been worse.

Trailing 4-1 heading into the sixth, the Mets worked their way back. In that inning, Mike Cameron smashed a two-run homer to left to cut it to 4-3. Then in the eighth, Carlos Beltran (three hits, two runs) beat out an infield hit, took second on a poor throw and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Cameron walked, Beltran scored the tying run when Cameron broke up a double play by sliding hard into Spivey at second, allowing David Wright to reach first base.

“Got there the same time he did,” Cameron said. “So I just tried to get in there and clean him out.”

Despite the comeback, though, the Mets would be denied the victory an inning later.

“It’s very disappointing,” said DeJean, “to lose a ballgame that way.”