ESPN MLB

NEW YORK (AP) -- Carlos Delgado and the New York Mets botched the final Shea Stadium opener the same way they squandered that big lead in the NL East last year.

April or September, doesn't seem to matter. The Mets can't find a way to hold off Philadelphia.

Jamie Moyer pitched six effective innings, Jayson Werth hit a tiebreaking single and the Phillies rallied past New York 5-2 Tuesday with the help of Delgado's key error in the seventh.

"Definitely not the start we wanted to get off to," Mets star David Wright said.

It was another late comeback by Philadelphia, which took advantage of the Mets' epic collapse last September to win the division title. New York led by seven games with 17 to play, but went 5-12 down the stretch and missed the playoffs.

The Phillies had a lot to do with that meltdown, beating the Mets in their final eight meetings last year and winning the season series 12-6.

Make it nine in a row now.

"There's none of us in here going, geez, the Phillies are coming to town, we're probably going to lose," Mets closer Billy Wagner said. "I think all of us are tired of hearing the Phils have our number. The Phils don't have our number. We shoot ourselves in the foot every time we go out there.

"When they come here, they bring it. They show up and they play great. That's what we have to do."

Chase Utley tied a major league record by getting hit by a pitch three times for the Phillies, who won despite stranding 13 runners on a chilly, 50-degree afternoon.

The Mets lost their third straight, wasting Delgado's first homer and a solid outing by Oliver Perez as they got off to a disappointing start in the final season at Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964. The team is set to move into an intimate new park next year -- Citi Field is rising in the parking lot.

New York dropped to 30-17 in home openers and 7-1 in Shea Stadium openers against Philadelphia.

"If we're in their head, we're in their head. It's not for me to say," Philadelphia's Shane Victorino said. "We're not going out there saying, 'We own the Mets.'"

NL MVP Jimmy Rollins was booed loudly, as usual. Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis (0-1) also heard it from the crowd of 56,350 after he and Delgado let the Phillies come back from a 2-0 deficit in the seventh.

Rollins and Victorino singled with one out before Utley was hit by a pitch for the third time, the first two by Perez. That loaded the bases for Ryan Howard, who hit a grounder to Delgado at first base.

Delgado tried for a double play, but his throw to second deflected off Utley and rolled toward center field for an error that allowed the tying run to score.

"I thought I had a lane. He also had a good slide to the outside part of the bag," Delgado said. "Maybe I could have thrown it a little more to the outside."

Werth put Philadelphia in front with a two-out RBI single off Jorge Sosa.

Aaron Heilman walked the leadoff batter in the eighth, and the Phillies capitalized with Rollins' run-scoring single and Utley's RBI double.

"We got a break and we ran with it," Rollins said. "Especially here, it feels good."

Rollins departed in the eighth with a sprained left ankle and is day to day.

Born 17 months before Shea Stadium opened, the 45-year-old Moyer (1-0) held New York to four hits.

Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero each worked a scoreless inning before Tom Gordon got three outs for his first save.

"What happened last year is done," Moyer insisted. "The pitch to Delgado was right down the middle, but I pitched pretty well."

Perez pitched three-hit ball for 5 2/3 innings. He hasn't allowed an extra-base hit in 11 2/3 shutout innings this season.

Delgado led off the second with his 432nd home run, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. for 37th place. Delgado is 30-for-68 (.441) with eight homers against Moyer.

Ryan Church added an RBI groundout in the fourth for New York.

"That's one straight loss in 2008," Wright said of the rivalry. "That's all we're concerned about -- 2007 is over, done with," Wright said.

Game notes

Mets RHP Orlando Hernandez will miss his scheduled rehab start in the minors because of his sore right foot. ... New York LHP Pedro Feliciano didn't arrive until the seventh inning because his flight from Puerto Rico was canceled, then another flight was delayed. Feliciano was given permission to return home on the off day Monday because of a family emergency, but he said everybody is fine. ... Mets 2B Luis Castillo left after the fourth with soreness in his surgically repaired right knee and said a day off Wednesday would probably help. He was replaced by Damion Easley. ... Victorino and Werth collided on the warning track in right-center as Victorino caught Wright's fourth-inning drive. Both outfielders were shaken up but remained in the game. ... Darryl Strawberry joined SNY as an analyst.