by Ken Rosenthal

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Let's nod along with manager Willie Randolph, who said the team is "close to turning a corner." Let's concede that the offense and defense were much-improved. Let's agree with right-hander John Maine, who said, "Everyone did their job but me."

Words, just words.

Here's the reality:

After leading the Phillies by seven games with 17 to play, the Mets' cushion is down to 1 ½ games with 12 to play. Randolph addressed the team before Tuesday's game. The players held their own meeting. But for the second straight night, the Mets blew a four-run lead to the Nats, making it five straight losses and six in their past seven games.

Even if the Mets hold on to win the NL East title — and they certainly should, considering that the Phillies are 14th in the league in ERA — they now are one game behind the Diamondbacks in the race for the league's top overall record and home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.

Pathetic.

The Mets are the most talented team in the NL. If they don't reach the World Series this season, it not only will be fair to ask if Randolph is the right manager, but also if general manager Omar Minaya assembled the right mix of players.

Randolph, presently channeling Gene Mauch, will be best judged by the end result, but his in-game strategy is becoming a daily issue.

Minaya, his roster short on pitching, must answer for trading three breakout pitchers — Royals starter Brian Bannister, Padres reliever Heath Bell and Marlins reliever Matt Lindstrom — while receiving little in return last winter.

The questions, though, go beyond management.

The Mets are more style than substance. Rather than display gritty resolve — the DNA of any championship team — they are the baseball equivalent of a pretty face.

Who is the Mets' Chase Utley? Their Jimmy Rollins? Their Aaron Rowand?

A year ago the Mets' diversity and chemistry was the talk of baseball, the subject of a Sports Illustrated cover story. The makeup of the team is essentially unchanged, but next to the never-say-die Phillies, the Mets look, well, meek.

Sabermetricians scoff at such talk, noting that performance overrides any question of mental toughness. Well, what happens when a team's performance falters? Where is its emotional center? How do the players respond?

If you think none of this matters, consider the Mets' cross-town rivals — the expensive, talented and undeniably willful Yankees.

The Mets have yet to develop the same fiber.

Third baseman David Wright and shortstop Jose Reyes, both 24, are too young to lead. Center fielder Carlos Beltran and first baseman Carlos Delgado aren't take-charge personalities. Left-hander Tom Glavine and closer Billy Wagner are pitchers, not everyday players.

A strong manager such as the Tigers' Jim Leyland can make a difference, almost single-handedly forming a team's identity. A cool hand like the Yankees' Joe Torre can defuse a variety of issues.

Randolph, in only his third season, is still evolving — and doing it in one of the game's most demanding media markets. Unlike Torre, who patiently answers reporters' questions, even ones he considers stupid, Randolph often is brief and defensive in his group sessions — odd, considering that he's charismatic and a born leader.

His pre-game exchange Tuesday might have been the most contentious in history for a manager whose team had the best record in its league on Sept. 18. Randolph, pressed about his cool exterior, said he was "very passionate .... very, very fiery when I talk to players."

He insisted that the Mets' slump was "not Armageddon to us ... not what it might seem to people on the outside." But it was a difficult sell, considering that he already had addressed the team and that his players, at that precise moment, were in the middle of their players-only meeting.

Afterward, Randolph again put on a brave front, but had to explain his excessive patience with Maine, who allowed four of his first five hitters to reach in the fifth inning before giving up a three-run homer to Ron Belliard.

Randolph noted that Maine was prone to big innings, yet said he didn't think Maine was losing control of the game. Perhaps Randolph was afraid to go to his beleaguered middle-relief corps. But with an expanded roster, he had a multitude of options.

And so the questions continue.

On Saturday, Randolph sent out left-handed reliever Pedro Feliciano for a second inning after Feliciano allowed an unearned run, then struck out the Phillies' Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell. Aaron Rowand, a right-handed hitter, led off the next inning — and hit a game-tying home run.

On Sunday, Randolph summoned struggling right-hander Guillermo Mota against the Phillies after Carlos Beltran tied the score with a three-run homer. Mota proceeded to walk two of his three hitters, triggering a decisive five-run inning.

One victory, a nice streak, and the doubts will start to diminish. The Tigers reached the World Series last season after staggering into the post-season. So did the Cardinals, who displayed championship mettle once they got healthy. The Mets currently are without Delgado and right-hander Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. A lot can change if the team becomes whole.

Still, with only 12 games remaining, the Mets look disturbingly out of sorts. If you buy the party line, you accept that it's a blip, the normal ebb and flow of a pennant race. If you're watching the games, you wonder if it's something more.