by ADAM RUBIN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS , The Star-Ledger

Mets 6 Bobby Parnell's stock rose as quickly as the 100 mph fastball he occasionally flashes, with manager Jerry Manuel even anointing the rookie the primary setup man once J.J. Putz needed elbow surgery. Now, Parnell is plummeting just as fast.

A half-inning after Brian Schneider belted his second mammoth three-run homer of the series, Manuel asked Parnell to protect a one-run lead in the seventh. Parnell surrendered a two-run homer to B.J. Upton on a fastball that ran back over the plate, and all four batters the rookie faced scored.

As a result, the Mets lost the rubber game to Tampa Bay, 10-6. The Mets' record dropped to 34-33, although they remained two games behind first-place Philadelphia, which was swept by Baltimore and has lost six straight. The Mets had not been within a game of .500 since May 7, in the midst of a seven-game winning streak.

Parnell (2-3) has allowed 10 runs in four innings spanning his last seven appearances. Sean Green recently had overtaken him as the primary eighth-inning option, although the ex-Mariner had issues yesterday, too.

Afterward, Manuel blamed himself, suggesting he's been overusing Parnell, Green and Pedro Feliciano. Feliciano pitched for a sixth straight day yesterday. He has appeared in 40 of the Mets' 67 games - on pace for 97 relief appearances, which would shatter the franchise-record 86 he set last season

"Probably what I need to do is to really refresh the bullpen," said Manuel, who suggested he may give Parnell as many as the next three games off. "I've probably to a fault used him too much. That's Parnell, Green and Feliciano."

Said Parnell: "It's definitely a new role being in the bullpen. The throwing is different. But I don't think Jerry owes me a break. I think I owe him a few outs, if you ask me. I've got to go out there and perform better than I have."

Carlos Beltran bailed out Ken Takahashi to leave the bases loaded in the four-run seventh, which was interrupted by a 34-minute rain delay. Despite a balky right knee that will require an MRI exam today, Beltran made an inning-ending sliding catch on Pat Burrell's shot to shallow center to keep the Mets within 8-5.

The Mets loaded the bases with one out the next half-inning on consecutive singles by Beltran and David Wright, with Murphy on third from a fielder's choice. But Gary Sheffield grounded into a run-scoring fielder's choice and Ryan Church struck out.

The Rays then regained a comfortable lead when Green loaded the bases without recording an out in the eighth and Feliciano walked Carlos Pena to force in a run, then surrendered a sacrifice fly to Gabe Kapler.

Until Parnell struggled yesterday, Schneider - who is hardly considered a deep threat - was on track to lift the Mets to two weekend victories against the Rays with a pair of tape-measure three-run homers. Schneider's shot Friday off Andy Sonnanstine in the second inning landed in the bullpen and gave the Mets a 3-0 lead en route to a 5-3 victory. Then, yesterday, Schneider turned a two-run deficit into a 5-4 lead in the sixth with a three-run shot off Joe Nelson. It marked only the third time in Schneider's career that he had homered in consecutive games started.

Despite a mea culpa about using Parnell too much of late, Manuel said he had no regrets about pinch-hitting for Brian Stokes with two out and none on in the sixth after Schneider's homer, and after Stokes had tossed a scoreless top of the inning. Manuel said he wanted to get Parnell back into a game quickly after he struggled the previous day.

The Mets had taken a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Mike Pelfrey's RBI single off Rays starter Jeff Niemann, but Pelfrey surrendered four runs in the fifth, continuing a pattern of promising outings quickly unraveling. Last week, Wright had gotten in Pelfrey's face in the visitors' dugout in Baltimore, trying to challenge the right-hander to take his performances "up a notch" and to avoid getting "a little complacent or passive." But Pelfrey surrendered five straight hits to open the fifth yesterday.

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