PHILADELPHIA -- New York Mets jerseys dotted the park and the crowd erupted with each run as they rooted for the road team. Chants of "M-V-P! "M-V-P!" were heard for Carlos Delgado and a few diehards yelled "1986!" at Keith Hernandez in the broadcast booth.

This looked like a game at Shea Stadium and sounded like a game at Shea.

Home or away, one other crucial part has remained the same: The Mets are rolling atop the NL East.

David Wright homered, Delgado knocked in three runs and the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 on Wednesday night for their seventh straight win.

"I have to say we're playing as well as we can right now," Mets manager Willie Randolph said.

The NL East-leading Mets (41-23) have won nine of 11 and hold a commanding 8½-game lead over the bumbling Phillies in second place. Only two teams in Mets history reached 40 wins faster: the 1986 World Series champions and the 1988 team that lost in the league championship series.

Jose Reyes had four of the Mets' 16 hits. Each starter had a hit and scored.

"When you play well, that usually will happen," Randolph said. "Everyone's making a contribution."

The Phillies can't catch the ball, much less the Mets in the standings. Philadelphia made three errors for the second straight game and have lost five of six.

"If they want to kick the ball around, that's fine with me," Randolph said.

Darren Oliver (3-0) earned the win with one-run ball in three innings of relief. Mets starter Orlando Hernandez gave up two runs in three-plus innings, but did not return after a 1 hour, 5 minute rain delay.

"I feel bad for El Duque, that should have been his win," Randolph said. "He was kind of cruising a bit. I didn't want to take a chance of setting him back."

Hernandez would have easily recorded his fifth win of the season had he pitched two more innings. The Mets led 7-2 after four innings. Delgado had run-scoring hits in the first and fourth, and a sacrifice fly in the eighth that made it 9-3.

"It's nice to go out there and put pressure on the opposition," Delgado said.

Phillies starter Brett Myers (4-3) failed to get past the third inning for the second straight start. He wasn't helped by the shaky defense behind him, though. He allowed six runs -- five earned -- in 2 2/3 innings and one dropped flyball was questionably called a triple.

With the Mets already ahead 2-0, Myers ran into more trouble after retiring the first two batters in the second. He allowed two singles and Paul Lo Duca reached on David Bell's error to load the bases. Carlos Beltran walked for a 3-0 lead.

Wright hit an 0-2 pitch the opposite way to right for his 13th homer and a 4-0 lead leading off the third. Endy Chavez tripled to deep center when Aaron Rowand, who broke his nose running into the fence a month earlier, seemed to pull up near the wall this time. Lastings Milledge followed with an RBI single.

Jose Reyes hit a drive to deep right field that put Bobby Abreu on the run. The ball bounced off his glove and Reyes scooted to third with a very generous triple. That was it for Myers, who ended his rough outing by appearing to glare at Abreu as walked to the dugout.

Abreu was booed as he jogged with his head down toward the dugout at the end of the inning.

"You want to keep your composure and not show like you're mad," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

The Phillies' blunders weren't only in the field. Bell flied out to center field with runners on first and second and one out in the second inning. Ryan Howard was caught in a rundown trying to advance to third and tagged out to end the threat.

Jimmy Rollins hit a solo homer, his third in two games, and Abreu added an RBI single for the Phillies.

"They're playing real good ball right now and they took advantage of our mistakes again," Rollins said.

Manuel was ejected in the fourth inning for apparently arguing a called third strike on Bell. Manuel was ejected by plate umpire Sam Holbrook after the second out. Manuel shouted from the dugout over the strike on Bell, was tossed, then came out to argue some more.

Notes

• Phillies RHP Julio Santana will miss the rest of the season because of a right elbow injury that will require ligament reconstruction surgery to repair. Signed to a one-year contract last winter in the hopes that he would strengthen the bullpen, Santana was 0-0 with a 7.56 ERA in seven games.
• Phillies lefty Randy Wolf, also coming back from an elbow injury, will have his next rehabilitation start pushed back a day or two after getting hit on the left hand by a line drive Tuesday. Wolf woke up Wednesday with swelling in his left hand.
• The Phillies recalled RHP Scott Mathieson from Double-A Reading to start Saturday's game against Tampa Bay. Mathieson was 6-2 with a 3.05 ERA in 13 starts.