Edition: U.S. / Global


Published: May 17, 1987

Any way you look at it, these are bad times for the Mets. And they worsened last night before 48,128 fans, the largest Shea Stadium crowd of the season.

After all that success in 1986 - World Series rings and autobiographies and big raises - they're now sloughing along in fifth place. They've lost 10 of their last 13, the bullpen has lost five straight and they're 0-11 on weekends, whatever that may mean.

Last night, they had a chance for some of the old drama: A rookie relief pitcher called up from the minor leagues arrives at noon, pitches at night, retires the first four batters he sees in the big leagues then faces the leading hitter in baseball in the 10th inning with the score 4-4.

Last year, when they were on a six-month roll, the Mets would have written a smash ending to that one. This year, it didn't happen. The rookie pitcher, Jeff Innis, threw a sinkerball to the leading hitter, Jeffrey Leonard of the San Fancisco Giants, who whacked it off the top of the fence in right-center just above the glove of a leaping Darryl Strawberry for a home run.

So the Giants won the game, 5-4, in 10 innings and the Mets took another tumble. They are 15-19, and they are still closer to the bottom of the National League East than to the top, where they reigned last year every day after April 23.

Innis, a 24-year-old right-hander from Illinois, reflected on his bittersweet debut later and said, ''I didn't have any wild fantasies about striking out 10 guys in a row.''

''Last year was an aberration,'' said Frank Cashen, the general manager, rationalizing the Mets' switch of fortune. ''Nobody wins by 21 games. You fight it out, you go down the home stretch, three or four teams fighting it out. And the survivor wins. This year is more normal.

''The longer I'm around baseball, the more I understand that the team with the best pitching wins.''

If so, Cashen's team has a problem. Dwight Gooden was pitching in the minor leagues in Virginia last night, continuing his comeback after one month in drug treatment. Bob Ojeda was facing surgery on a sore left elbow. Sid Fernandez had a sprained left knee and figured to miss a turn or two.

When you're going badly, you even get nabbed on the bases. Mookie Wilson walked as a pinch-hitter but was thrown out at third base in the sixth inning. Lee Mazzilli pinch-hit a double but was thrown out at third in the eighth. And Dave Magadan got three hits but was doubled off first in the ninth.

But all that happened after the Mets had rushed into the lead with two runs in the first inning - except that even then, they should have got more. Lenny Dykstra hit a leadoff home run off Mark Grant, the fifth time in his career that he had opened a game with a long one. Then they got a single, a balk and three walks - but only one more run.

They promptly paid. Half an inning later, Chili Davis singled and Will Clark hit a home run off Rick Aguilera, and they were tied at 2-2.

In the fifth, the Mets nudged in front again. Magadan doubled, took second on a groundout and scored on a smash to the left side by Gary Carter. But again, they might have had more. Carter, with only 10 hits in 67 times up, was robbed of a hit when Matt Williams made a diving stop and threw him out.

Half an inning later, Leonard led with a double to the fence in center, Davis walked, Bob Melvin doubled down the left-field line, and they were tied again. Then, with the infield drawn in for a play at the plate, Williams bounced a chop between first and second. Wally Backman lunged and speared it, but had no play, and the Giants led by 4-3.

The Mets shot back in the bottom of the sixth with another run and another tie. Rafael Santana singled, Wilson walked, and in came Jeff Robinson, who struck out Tim Teufel. Magadan followed with a single to right, and they were even at 4-4.

Now it was time for Innis, newly arrived from Tidewater of the International League. In his debut in the bigtime, he struck out two of the first three batters he faced in the ninth, he retired four in a row and then faced Leonard in the 10th with his .368 batting average and his home-run stroke to right-center.

''You have to learn from these things,'' Innis reasoned later, his first hour with the Mets beyond reach.

Photo of Wally Backman (NYT/Lary C. Morris)