Not that it was good, just that it could have been catastrophic.

Pitching more like a confused right-hander than a 10-game winner, Kevin Millwood endured his wildest start of the season, hitting three Mets and walking three others in the Phillies' 7-5 loss Tuesday at Veterans Stadium, ending their six-game homestand at 3-3. The 4:01 game was the longest nine-inning game of the season for the Phillies.

In his 99-pitch effort, Millwood allowed five runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. Instead of throwing heat, the right-hander felt it all afternoon -- on nearly every misguided pitch. He wasn't wild about how things turned out.

"Just a bad day," said Millwood. "I went out there and my control wasn't there. You know when you're not right, but sometimes you can correct it. Today, I wasn't able to do that."

As well as the Phillies have been playing -- they had won eight on 11 heading into Monday -- they stumbled hard against a Mets team that had lost 10 of their past 11 games heading into this series. Philadelphia has now lost three of five, loosening their grip on the Wild Card lead.

Should the Diamondbacks win at San Francisco on Tuesday night, the Phillies' lead would slip to a half-game.

Kevin Millwood   /   P
	Height: 6'4" Weight: 205 Bats/Throws: R/R More info: Player page Stats Splits Phillies site

Millwood (10-7) never seemed right on the 89-degree day in front of 37,164. He began by allowing a single to Jeff Duncan, who stole second. Millwood then hit Jason Phillips with one out and walked Cliff Floyd to load the bases. Ty Wigginton's double plated the first two runs.

He allowed another run in the second, but squirmed out of a major jam. Joe McEwing registered the first of his three hits, and was sacrificed to second. Millwood walked Duncan and Jose Reyes to load the bases, then hit Phillips for the second time. Entering Monday, Millwood had hit one batter all season.

After that infraction, his control returned for a spell. He whiffed the final two batters of the second inning, then the first two in a scoreless third.

He tripped for good in the fourth. Loading the bases on two singles and a hit batter, Millwood surrendered a single up the middle to Roger Cedeno, spelling the end to his afternoon. It was his worst outing since giving up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings in Cincinnati on June 13, and his worst at the Vet since the Marlins scored seven off him in 3 2/3 innings.

"I'm not going to have a whole lot of fun for the next few hours, but I'm sure it will be out of my mind the next time I pitch," Millwood said.

His struggles poured some gasoline on the fire started by Brandon Duckworth, who lasted 2 2/3 innings on Monday, and forced manager Larry Bowa to use four relievers.

The Phillies needed five more relievers Tuesday, though they got a boost when Carlos Silva returned from his five-game suspension. It was unexpected considering that in July Millwood had been almost as sizzling as the 89-degree afternoon. He entered the game with a 1.17 ERA in three July starts, and was 6-1 in day games.

On a day like Tuesday, none of those numbers mattered, nor did it matter that Millwood was the ace of the Phillies staff, who is now 3-5 with a 4.84 ERA over his past 10 starts.

"He wasn't hitting his spots," said catcher Todd Pratt. "If you're a pitcher like him and you don't hit your spots, it doesn't matter if you're a No. 1 or a No. 5 pitcher."

Millwood and Duckworth combined to pitch 6 1/3 innings over the past two days, the second-lowest two-day total of the season. Joe Roa and Millwood combined for 5 2/3 innings on April 4-5. Since the All-Star break, the bullpen has been tossed 22 innings and has a 2.46 ERA.

"We're very bad," said Bowa, on the overall shape of the bullpen. "It's carryover from last night. I hope the wind's blowing in [Wednesday]."

That was a less-than-subtle reference of Randy Wolf's start against the Cubs. His mentality is always to pitch nine innings, and the need for it is a bit more pressing. He's averaged nearly six innings a start in July.

"We're all a little tired, but you get through it," said Dan Plesac, who wasn't used on Tuesday. "We've been spoiled up to now with how our starters have pitched, so we're fresher because of it."

"We hope Wolfie goes nine tomorrow," added Rheal Cormier, who pitched one inning. "It's one of those things. It takes a toll, but we still have to go out and do the job."

As they did a day before, the Phillies came back somewhat, but couldn't muster enough offense. Down 5-0, the Phillies plated one run in the fifth, then three more in sixth, highlighted by Pat Burrell's two-run triple.

That sixth-inning outburst chased starter Steve Trachsel (9-6), though the right-hander got the win. He was helped largely by rookies Duncan and Reyes, who reached base a combined seven times and scored four runs.

John Franco stumbled in the ninth, serving up a run-scoring double to Jim Thome and a Bobby Abreu single. Dan Wheeler relieved and struck out Burrell for the final out, recording his second save.