Dog day afternoon: Phillies fall to Mets

Kyle Kendrick drove the pace car in the longest game played at Citizens Bank Park this season.

Kendrick (7-6) threw out the first pitch at 1:08 p.m. Two minutes later, he should have been sitting pretty with two outs.

Instead, a botched double play by fill-in shortstop Michael Martinez led to a four-run first inning for the Mets. New York rode that momentum to a 7-4 victory yesterday over the Phillies. Time of game:

3 hours, 41 minutes.

“Just one of those days, that first inning was tough,” said Kendrick, who took the loss despite giving up just two earned runs. “You got to shake it off.”

Martinez misplayed a sharply hit grounder from Ruben Tejada in the first. That lone miscue led to four unearned runs, punctuated by a three-run blast from Nick Evans.

“Martinez was trying to make a play and he didn’t do it,” Kendrick said. “Nine out of 10 times those guys make the play.”

Martinez might be the scapegoat, but the Phillies left 12 men on base and went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Hunter Pence flied out with the bases loaded in the second, then they stranded Carlos Ruiz at third base in the third after the catcher stole his first bag since 2009. In the ninth, the Phillies had the tying run at the plate, in Ruiz, but he grounded out to end the game.

“We couldn’t get a big hit,” Charlie Manuel said. “We left runners on base, especially early in the game. Mistakes like that can definitely cost you.”