Phillies' Joe Blanton hit hard in 6-3 loss to New York Mets

NEW YORK — On a day the Phillies sent Roy Halladay to the disabled list and said his injured shoulder should keep him out six to eight weeks, righthander Joe Blanton's on-the-field fortunes weren't much better.

Blanton had his third consecutive poor start, allowing six runs (all earned) and nine hits, including two home runs, in five-plus innings as the Phillies suffered a 6-3 loss Tuesday to the New York Mets at Citi Field.

To make matters worse, there was a 1-hour, 4-minute rain delay after the Mets retired the Phillies in the top of the eighth inning.

During his last three starts, which includ-ed two losses and a no-decision, Blanton has issued eight home runs. In 13 2/3 innings, he has allowed 19 earned runs.

"My command is not there now," Blanton said. "I thought I had it fixed."

He even said he had a good bullpen session before the game.

"It didn't translate over," Blanton said. "I have to start over and try to find it still."

Blanton is 4-5 with a 5.05 ERA. As the record suggests, he has been up and down. The down portion has been dominant lately.

The righthander's 2011 season was marred by an elbow injury that limited him to eight starts, but he said he had no injury concerns.

"Physically, I'm good and still feel the ball is coming out pretty decent; it's just command," Blanton said.

With Halladay out and Blanton struggling, manager Charlie Manuel has plenty to worry about.

"I am concerned about our starting pitching now," Manuel said. "These guys are getting a chance to pitch and get a chance to do a good job for us and see if we can't hold the fort down until we get everybody healthy."

It was hard to distinguish what was more surprising: Mets righthander Jeremy Hefner earning his first major-league win or hitting his first home run.

Hefner entered the game 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA in his first season in the big leagues. He allowed three runs in six innings.

The Phillies got off to a quick start when Jimmy Rollins led off with a double, was sacrificed to third by Juan Pierre, and scored on a wild pitch.

In the Mets first, leadoff batter Mike Baxter was hit by a pitch. Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a ball to center that Shane Victorino dived for but couldn't catch, earning a single that put runners on the corners.

David Wright then drilled an RBI single, a liner off the glove of Rollins at short, to tie the score. That also snapped an 0-14 skid by Wright.

Ike Davis added an RBI single in the first.

Brian Schneider, starting in place of Carlos Ruiz, who missed his second game with right hamstring tightness, tied the score with a solo blast to right field in the second.

Baxter's RBI double in the second made it 3-2, and Hefner increased the lead to 4-2 with his fourth-inning solo home run.

The Phillies added a run in the sixth inning, but wasted a chance for more. Juan Pierre singled and scored on Hunter Pence's double and one-base error on Baxter in left.

That put Pence on third with nobody out, but Hefner got Ty Wigginton on a weak grounder to first. The righthander then struck out Shane Victorino on a high fastball and got Placido Polanco to fly to left.

Blanton allowed a two-run home run in the sixth to pinch-hitter Scott Hairston. That ended Blanton's forgettable evening in what was an equally disappointing day for his team.

Contact Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225, mnarducci@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @sjnard.