Fernando Nieve is to make his fifth start for the Mets on Saturday. A chance exists that it could be his last.

Admit it: The Mets don’t deserve to have a share of first place right now. Not given how they played. And not if they’re going to be shut down by retreads Rodrigo Lopez and Chan Ho Park.

A 7-2 stinker against the Phillies on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park prevented a three-way tie atop the NL East. Instead, Philadelphia leads the Marlins by a game and the Mets and Braves by two games. Philadelphia had entered the series having lost six straight at home and 12 of 15 overall.

Livan Hernandez (right) had a dreadful game, lasting only three-plus innings in his shortest outing as a Met. He was charged with seven runs, and it could have been worse. Pat Misch entered with the bases loaded and none out and retired Greg Dobbs on a 1-2-3 double play, then coaxed an inning-ending groundout by Paul Bako after an intentional walk to Pedro Feliz reloaded the bases.

Misch, who has been absorbing a fair amount of innings, finally is providing the second lefty the Mets desperately needed to complement Pedro Feliciano. He was claimed off waivers from the Giants and promoted on June 22 after a stop at Triple-A Buffalo.

Jerry Manuel tried to paint Hernandez’s performance in the most positive of lights, but it seemed hollow. The manager noted that Hernandez often walks a tightrope with base runners. And Manuel suggested that if only left fielder Nick Evans had caught Dobbs’ two-run bloop single with a dive, it could have been a 1-0 instead of 3-0 after one inning and a different game. A skilled left fielder would have had difficulty, though, and Evans just couldn’t get there.

That brings up another issue with the Mets: players out of position. You just can’t get away with it. Evans was a minor-league infielder, and not a stellar first baseman at that, even if it is his natural position. Two other out-of-position players made the Mets look untaught Friday.

Jimmy Rollins stretched what should have been a two-run single to center field in the third into a double because no one was covering second base. Fernando Tatis was making just his third career start at second base.

In the eighth inning, Shane Victorino beat out an infield single, and David Wright’s throw went off first baseman Daniel Murphy’s glove and behind him. Murphy didn’t immediately retrieve the ball, and Victorino hustled to second. Infield coach Sandy Alomar Sr. shook his head in the dugout in disappointment. Murphy told Alomar he froze, but Alomar would not accept the excuse. I chatted with Alomar after the game, and he said they’ve worked so hard training the players, and that it’s fundamental to instantaneously retrieve a ball that eludes you.

***

On the injury front:

* Fernando Martinez pinch-hit and grounded out to end the game, and I was surprised to see him enter at all. Martinez was limping badly in the clubhouse before the game, and told the Daily News a ligament behind his right knee has been causing pain for a week. That explains why Ryan Church (3-for-4) was in center field for a second straight game and third time this season. Martinez said he had the same trouble in 2006 with Class A Hagerstown. He said he may see a doctor when the Mets get back to New York.

* Oliver Perez’s outing with Triple-A Buffalo obviously included erratic control, but a source tells the Daily News he won’t be required to make any more rehab starts. So it looks like Perez will face the Dodgers on Wednesday at Citi Field, with Tim Redding bumped to the bullpen. Misch, as we mentioned, has done well, so Elmer Dessens could be the odd-man out next week.

* John Maine, on the other hand, has a ways to go. Team officials tell me that Maine just tossed a baseball Friday in New York for the first time since getting shut down and receiving his second cortisone shot in the back of his right shoulder. He’ll be allowed to toss a baseball every other day, but is not cleared to even do any arm exercises yet. In a week, he may be cleared to work with rehab trainer Chris Correnti, Pedro Martinez’s former guru. But that doesn’t mean immediately stepping on a mound at that point. Remember, once Maine does get on a mound, he’s going to have to build up his innings count again, so we’re a ways away from seeing him. No way it will be right after the All-Star break.

* Omar Minaya, on the other hand, says Angel Pagan (strained right groin) should be in rehab games by Sunday or Monday. That means he’s getting very close to returning.

*** Minaya (above), who joined the Mets on Friday in Philly, had the same party line about potential trades during an afternoon chat—in essence, don’t expect much. Not right now, anyway. Here’s what he had to say:

“It’s fair to say that, if you’re looking at reinforcements right now, we are hoping and counting on some of our DL guys being reinforcements. It’s also fair to say that we’re going to go out there and try to look around and see if we can do something that can fit. Of course, you’re kind of caught in-between.

“Look, I’m talking to clubs. But I’ve been around long enough to know that you can try to talk to teams, but trades have to work for both teams. We are going to continue to have dialogue, but it’s got to make sense. And our situation is that it’s not one player. If you were telling me that we just needed one guy, you could say, ‘Oh, we can go out there and get that.’ Right now, we’re looking at two starting pitchers (on the DL). One, hopefully, might be back, depending on how Oliver throws. You’ve got a bullpen piece (missing). You’ve got a shortstop. You’ve got a center fielder. You’ve got a first baseman. So there are a lot of different pieces that need to be filled.

“And then the question is, A, are those pieces available? And, B, at what price are those pieces available? All those are things you have to look at. But if we can get all our guys back as healthy guys, it’s going to be hard to get trades that are going to be better than Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.”

Minaya reiterated that there just aren’t many sellers. He said look how many teams entered the weekend within six games of the division or wild-card lead. In the National League, only Washington, San Diego and Arizona don't fall into that category.

“If you’re in contention, it’s just hard for you to move players,” Minaya said. “Look, any team that’s looking at five or six games—whether it’s the wild card or first place—my guess is that most clubs say, ‘Hey, we have a chance here,’ if they’re in that range. And I think right now if you look at it there are a pretty good amount of teams that are in that area.”

Money is no object for the Mets, though, the GM said. Or, not really a concern, within reason.

“We can take on payroll,” Minaya said.

As for Pittsburgh’s trade of Eric Hinske to the Yankees, Minaya said: “We talked a little bit with them. We liked him some. But with some of the guys we have — whether it was a Murphy, whether it was a (Jeremy) Reed, we’ve got Pagan coming back—I think we’re probably going to have a little bit of a surplus from the lefthanded side.”

Livan Hernandez didn't make it out of the third inning and was responsible for all of Philadelphia's runs in the series opener.

Rodrigo Lopez took a three-hitter into the seventh inning in his first outing in two years, helping the Philadelphia Phillies snap a six-game home losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets on Friday night. Lopez (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings to earn his first win since beating the Phillies on July 7, 2007, when he played for Colorado. The right-hander hadn't pitched in the majors since having elbow ligament replacement surgery 23 months ago.

? Pirates outfielder Delwyn Young said his ejection in the seventh inning Thursday against the New York Mets was just a misunderstanding. After looking at a called third strike, Young was immediately tossed by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild. Young said Fairchild accused him of drawing a line in the batter's box dirt to suggest the location of the pitch, which is a definite no-no. Young appeared to drag his bat lightly behind him as he left the batter's box. "He said, 'You're out of here. You're gone,' " Young said. "I wasn't even prepared to argue. I didn't look at him or say anything. He said, 'You're not going to draw a line on me.' Don't you think if I was going to be a jerk and draw a line, I would make more of an effort if I was going to get thrown out."

The Philadelphia Phillies have a chance to earn a rare series win at home. They'll try to win their fourth in a row over the New York Mets on Saturday when the NL East rivals continue a weekend series at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia (40-37) ended its six-game home losing streak with a 7-2 victory Friday night.

Rodrigo Lopez walked off the mound to a standing ovation from a sellout crowd in the home of the defending World Series champions. Not bad for a guy who hadn't pitched in the majors in two years. Lopez took a three-hitter into the seventh inning, helping the Philadelphia Phillies snap a six-game home losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets on Friday night. "I'm pretty happy, pretty excited," Lopez said. "Being out for two years, it was a long way to go, a long battle.

New York Mets left-hander Oliver Perez took another step toward returning from a right knee injury, allowing three runs in five-plus innings Friday night in a Triple-A rehabilitation start. The left-hander is slated to start at Citi Field on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. "I'm ready tonight (to go to New York)," Perez said. "I feel like I can pitch in the big leagues. I threw back-to-back five-inning games and feel no pain.

Mets officials hoped to have Oliver Perez face the Dodgers on Wednesday in place of Tim Redding, but Perez's showing on Friday night for Triple-A Buffalo has to place that plan in question. Perez walked four and exactly half of his 92 pitches were for strikes. He didn't allow a run until a first-pitch homer by Rochester's Matt Macri in the fifth. Perez departed having reached his pitch count after allowing consecutive doubles to open the sixth. Reliever Kyle Snyder allowed an inherited runner to score, so Perez was charged with three runs.

Mike Harrington graciously provides this Perez reaction in Buffalo:

"The most important thing is I'm feeling real good and I'm not thinking about my knee. I was feeling really strong. I think I'm ready. I was a little wild, but more important I feel strong. Today the key was not thinking about the knee but thinking about a real game. I tried to feel the pressure and make it feel like a big-league game. I feel really good. I showed emotion (when he was relieved) because I don't like to lose."

As for entering the Mets rotation Wednesday, Perez added: "That's not my decision. I threw almost 100 pitches and I'm ready to go but I don't know what they're going to decide. You tell me to go tomorrow, I'm ready to go tomorrow. I'm really excited and happy with everything I've been doing. That's not easy being hurt and seeing your team having problems. Today it's 7-0 in Philly. It's one of those times you want to get there and help. I don't like to lose. When I'm here and Port St. Lucie and I see them lose, I feel bad because I'm part of the team.I felt real aggressive. I didn't like when somebody gets hits. I liked this game and I like to show I like to compete.

"I want to get better, be consistent, and for me the most important thing is using my changeup. I haven't been using it much my whole career. With the fastball and slider, maybe I don't get out of the fifth inning today. Now I have a changeup, too, and I can get through five innings easy and that was a key for me."

For the Mets, Friday's beginning of their eighth fling against the Phillies was a chance to remember Thursday's win and feed off it.

Here's the lineup that will face Rodrigo Lopez on Friday night as the Mets, as hard as it may be to believe, can catch the Phillies in the NL East standings:

Cora, ss
Murphy, 1b
Wright, 3b
Sheffield, rf
Church, cf
Tatis, 2b
Evans, lf
Schneider, c
Hernandez, rhp

Mets 9

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