"J.J. Putz appears on the verge of losing his eighth-inning role after Monday night's implosion.

Jerry Manuel said he plans to talk to the struggling reliever today to let Putz know "what direction we might be heading with this particular situation." Asked if that meant he was planning to give Putz's set-up role to Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano or a combination of those two, Manuel smiled.

"I'm going to have that conversation [today]," he said. "If I tell you now, then that'll get me in trouble."

Taking the set-up job away from Putz, even on a temporary basis, hardly would qualify as a surprise in light of the former All-Star closer's recent woes and tough adjustment to a lesser role with the Mets. Putz was the goat Monday night, coughing up a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning as the Mets went on to an 8-5 loss to the lowly Pirates. Putz faced five batters and didn't retire any, giving up four singles and intentionally walking a batter before Manuel mercifully pulled him.

Putz, whose velocity is down noticeably in the wake of elbow issues earlier this season, is sporting an 8.53 ERA in his past seven appearances. Opponents are batting .320 against him in that span."