PHILADELPHIA -- Ricky Ledee saw a left-hander warming up in New York's bullpen and figured he wouldn't get a chance to bat. He stayed in and delivered another key hit.
Ledee hit a tiebreaking, three-run double, and Marlon Byrd and Bobby Abreu hit solo homers that led the Philadelphia Phillies to their fifth straight victory, 9-6 over the Mets on Saturday night.
The Phillies have won eight of nine after losing six straight and hold a one-game lead over the Florida Marlins in the NL wild-card race.
Ledee, starting in left field for the struggling Pat Burrell, put the Phillies ahead to stay with a two-out, bases-clearing double in the fifth.
"I though he would bring in the lefty," Ledee said of Mets manager Art Howe. "I was looking out of the corner of my eye. I thought I wasn't going to hit."
The last-place Mets have lost three straight since sweeping a three-game series against the first-place Atlanta Braves.
Brett Myers (13-7) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in six innings for his first win since Aug. 16. Myers, who allowed 10 runs in his previous two starts, gave the Phillies four 13-game winners for the first time in 30 years.
"We knew we had a great staff in spring training," Myers said. "We just didn't know how many wins we'd get."
Turk Wendell pitched the ninth for his first save since May 18, 2001, when he was on the Mets. In Friday night's 1-0 victory, Rheal Cormier earned the save for the Phillies. Jose Mesa lost his job as the closer for the second time this season after blowing his second save in four days on Thursday night.
With Philadelphia trailing 3-2, Myers led off the fifth with a walk against Jeremy Griffiths (1-2). Byrd singled, but Jimmy Rollins struck out and Abreu grounded out. After Jim Thome was intentionally walked, Mike Lieberthal singled to deep short, tying the score at 3.
Ledee then chased Griffiths with an opposite-field drive off the left-field wall that scored three for a 6-3 lead. Chase Utley followed with an RBI double off Jaime Cerda to make it 7-3.
"He's been unbelievable every time I use him," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "He's a guy who know his role. He's a model citizen. He likes playing in Philadelphia and wants to continue playing here. He's a professional."
Ledee is hitting .260 with 13 homers and 44 RBI in just 227 at-bats.
Byrd and Abreu hit solo shots off Jason Anderson in the sixth, giving the Phillies a 9-3 lead.
Griffiths gave up seven runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in his fourth start in the majors.
"Griff wasn't as sharp as he had been," Mets manager Art Howe said. "He walked the pitcher and paid for it."
The Phillies' turnaround after losing eight of nine comes during a stretch in which they are playing 27 games in 27 days. The low point came in Montreal on Aug. 28, when the Expos completed a four-game sweep with a 4-0 victory, the Phillies' sixth straight loss.
After that game, Bowa lost his volatile temper, criticizing the team in a tumultuous clubhouse meeting. The players later held their own meeting before arriving in New York, and they've lost just once since.
The Mets took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Jason Phillips in the first.
An RBI triple by Rollins and RBI groundout by Thome gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the first.
A sacrifice fly by Roger Cedeno in the second tied it at 2, and an RBI triple by Raul Gonzalez made it 3-2 in the third. Jorge Velandia hit a two-run single off Valerio De Los Santos in the seventh.
Notes:
- Kevin Millwood (14-9), Randy Wolf (13-9), Vicente Padilla (13-9) and Myers are Philadelphia's first foursome to win 13 games since Ken Brett (13-9), Wayne Twitchell (13-9), Jim Lonborg(13-16) and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton (13-20) did it in 1973.
- Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, a Mets television announcer, got into a heated debate with the official scorer after a grounder by Gonzalez to Thome with runners on first and second was ruled a hit in the seventh. Thome bobbled the grounder then recovered, but De Los Santos didn't cover first base.
- Velandia, playing for the injured Jose Reyes, has seven RBI in four starts.
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