08/31/2008 12:23 AM ET Mets left to look for answers in bullpen After Pelfrey's departure, Sanchez, Heilman let game get away By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com MIAMI -- Before anyone in the visiting manager's office could even ask a question following Saturday night's game, Jerry Manuel looked up and let out a low, resigned laugh. Then he went about the business of defending his bullpen yet again. The culprit this time, as it has been frequently over the past month, was Aaron Heilman. His pitches crossed to the left and to the right of home plate, above it and wide of it, but seldom down the center. And the last of them freed Marlins outfielder Josh Willingham to trot toward first, prompting a walk-off walk that turned a potential Mets victory into a 4-3 loss. The setback, coupled with the Phillies' 5-2 victory over the Cubs, shrunk the Mets' lead in the National League East to one game over Philadelphia. "Aaron was just erratic," Manuel said. "And he's normally pretty good here." Quite good, indeed. Heilman's first seven outings against the Marlins (69-67) this season resulted in 12 scoreless innings, representing one of the few bright spots of his season. So in the context of that, and of the three shutout innings he fired against the Phillies earlier this week, Heilman (3-8) had no choice but to feel confident when called upon to keep Saturday's game tied at 3. Then he walked Hanley Ramirez. "That's never a good thing," catcher Brian Schneider said. "It's a tight spot when you walk the leadoff guy," Heilman agreed. Especially when that leadoff guy is among the best in the league at creating runs. "It's like the other team walking Jose [Reyes]," Schneider said. What would Reyes do besides score? Ramirez set right upon that path when the next batter sacrificed him to second base, then when Heilman threw a wild pitch to send him to third. So with one out, the Mets (75-61) had little choice but to walk Jorge Cantu. A decision came next, with Manuel opting to intentionally walk Mike Jacobs as well, loading the bases for Willingham. Certainly, Heilman boasted better numbers against Willingham than Jacobs, and had better odds against a right-hander than a lefty. But pitching with the bases loaded isn't quite equivalent to pitching with men on the corners. So although Heilman didn't disagree with Manuel's decision, he struggled with its effects. Of the five pitches he threw to Willingham, four were balls. "As a pitcher, I don't think we really ever want to intentionally walk anybody," Heilman said. "You want to get that hitter." Heilman's presence in the game was predicated by a number of factors, foremost being regular closer Billy Wagner's elbow injury. Two of his bullpen mates, Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala, were unavailable with minor injuries. And another, Duaner Sanchez, was forced to pitch through his own right knee injury. Sanchez didn't do so particularly well. Entering with a one-run lead, he proceeded to serve up a game-tying homer to Jacobs to lead off the eighth inning, then gave way to Brian Stokes -- the only Mets reliever to pitch effectively. "I thought Sanchez might have made a mistake," Manuel said. "Basically," Sanchez disagreed, "that's not a mistake. You've got to give the credit to [Jacobs]." Either way, Manuel promised after the game, bullpen changes will come. "We do probably have to find out what can be a little bit more consistent in what we're doing," Manuel said. "That's just where we are. That's just what we have to do." The Mets certainly couldn't blame Mike Pelfrey, who threw 6 2/3 strong innings -- albeit with an escalating pitch count that prevented him from gunning for his third consecutive complete game. Pelfrey's most electric moment came when he drilled Cody Ross with a pitch in the second inning, prompting benches to clear and choice words to fly. "I guess he wasn't too happy that I hit him," Pelfrey smirked. But Ross was happier after the game, because his Marlins had won. None of this would have come about, of course, had the offense been able to tack on runs. The Mets snatched the lead early, as they so often do, plating two runs when David Wright homered in the first inning. It was the 18th time in their past 22 games that the Mets scored in the first. Reyes tripled and scored when Luis Castillo knocked him in two innings later, but the Mets could muster nothing else off Ricky Nolasco. They could muster even less off the bullpen, and only once more would they put a runner in scoring position with less than two outs. Hard to figure, these Mets. "We're going to have to find a better offensive mix to keep putting runs on the board," Manuel said. "We've got to find a way to keep adding runs." He'll attempt to do so in coming games, promising to shake up the lineup -- for whatever benefit that might bring. But until then, the Mets continue to confuse. They remain a strong playoff candidate, but they often don't show it. They rely on pitching, but their bullpen is irreparably flawed. Their offense often scores early, but rarely late. Still, five months have shown that these are the Mets, for better or for worse. They won't suddenly become more talented or more dedicated -- nor should they have to. But it's something more than luck that's keeping them from pulling away in the NL East. The Mets simply have to figure out what that is. --

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