"The joke store called, and they're running out of Mets.

What once held the promise of a respectable season has turned to crud right before manager Terry Collins' eyes. Don't look now, but Collins' crew is seven games below .500 -- the same place it was during a game on April 20 when principal owner Fred Wilpon called the Mets a "sh- - - -y" team.

"We're in a rut and playing pretty bad baseball right now," David Wright said after a 10-0 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. "We can't allow ourselves to just play out the season. Hopefully people realize there's a lot on the line going into next year, and we need to try and clean it up and play better baseball."

Wright had a closed-door meeting with Collins in which he expressed his displeasure with the performance of the 60-67 Mets, who lost their fourth straight and 10th in their last 12. A loss tonight would push the Mets eight games below .500 and match their lowest point of the season, when they fell to 5-13 in the hours following Wilpon's comment to a reporter from the New Yorker.

Last night the Mets couldn't touch Cliff Lee, and the Phillies feasted against Dillon Gee.

The rookie Gee lasted only 3 2/3 innings and allowed eight earned runs on seven hits and a career-high six walks. The Phillies scored three runs in the second against Gee (11-5) and were in firm control an inning later after John Mayberry Jr.'s two-run homer. Gee's line was complete after he was charged for three more runs in the fourth.

"It's probably the worst outing I've ever had, to be honest with you," Gee said."