NEW YORK -- Denials could be heard in every corner of the Mets' clubhouse on Saturday. Losing as they had lost, the Mets insisted, was no worse, no more horrifying because it had happened against the Yankees, because the house was full and the nation was watching. Squandering a four-run lead in the ninth inning was bad enough on its own merit -- or demerit. Their 5-4, 11-inning loss would have stung even if the Royals had been the winners.

The Mets leaned on that loss-is-a-loss concept. They found some comfort in it. And yes, the clubhouse would have been similarly hushed if Billy Wagner had melted similarly in Kansas City. But echoes of Lenny Harris could be heard as the Mets denied the extent of their Yankees-induced suffering. "A scratch on a new Cadillac hurts more than a scratch on a new Chevy," Harris once said after a hurtful loss to the Braves in 1998.

The victory that nearly was would have made the Mets proud -- a comprehensive and empowering 4-0 victory behind Pedro Martinez and against Mike Mussina, a second straight success in this Interleague interlude. Being the best team in the National League East is more important. But there's nothing wrong with being the better team in the City. And if Wagner had achieved three outs before he walked the ballpark and the Yankees achieved four runs in the ninth, the Mets could have laid claim to that unofficial distinction and emboldened themselves.

But, two innings later, when Jorge Julio allowed two unchallenged stolen bases and the decisive run, they were left with denials, the hush of defeat and blown dinner reservations.

"I thought at 5:30 we'd be eating," Martinez said aloud.

But how would it have tasted?

"Today feels as bad as last night felt good," Willie Randolph said, invoking the spirit of the 7-6 victory the Mets secured in the ninth inning Friday night. "You have to take each of them in stride."

Wagner seemed to.

"You can never tell whether that dude won or lost," Cliff Floyd said. "Even today. He's the same."

"Why worry about it?" Wagner said. "You have to have these types of games to prove you're human. ... It stinks because we should have won that game hands down. They had no business winning that game, but it's no use crying over spilt milk. I come in there and let them right back in the game."

There is a school of thought that says a closer, particularly one who relies in the rush of adrenalin as Wagner says he does, shouldn't be in a game without tension. And when Wagner entered to start the ninth, this game was tension-free.

He declined to say whether he was surprised to be used -- which is an answer in itself -- but he also said: "It's harder to generate adrenaline with a four-run lead as opposed to only a one- or two-run lead, but it shouldn't because there's 50,000 people out there. And that's no excuse. We can make up all kinds of excuses, but I just stunk. I wish I could say my shoulder hurt or my finger hurt. But I'm healthy as a horse. ... and human."

He was summoned after Martinez and Duaner Sanchez had limited the Yankees to five singles and a walk in eight innings. He threw 31 pitches -- 17 for balls -- and retired one of his seven batters. He walked three -- one with the bases loaded -- hit another with the bases loaded and allowed two hits, one a single by Robinson Cano that scored the first run.

Melky Cabrera's 11-pitch plate appearance -- he was down 0-2 and fouled off five pitches -- yielded a walk that loaded the bases for the first time and turned the inning. Wagner was surprised the Yankees took as many pitches as they did and thought Cabrera was more intent on making contact than getting a hit.

"I was just hoping to God someone would start swinging," he said.

The ensuing walk, to Kelly Stinnett, drove in the second run. The third run scored when Wagner hit his last batter, pinch-hitter Bernie Williams. Pedro Feliciano replaced Wagner, and when Johnny Damon beat the relay to first base on a potential game-ending double play, Cabrera scored the tying run, the fourth charged to Wagner.

"I have had worse days," Wagner said.

He allowed four runs in an inning against the Red Sox in June 2004, and five against the Diamondbacks in 1999. He walked three eight times, but completed the inning each time. He walked four once and didn't retire a batter. But that was in the sixth inning. And it wasn't against the Yankees with 56,185 in attendance in the first year of a $43 million contract.

"It won't be my last bad day," he said.

In the 11th, Julio (1-2) walked the leadoff batter, Miguel Cairo. The former Mets utilityman stole second when Cabrera struck out on a breaking ball in the dirt. Cairo stole third with two outs and Andy Phillips batting. On neither steal did catcher Ramon Castro bother throwing. He had no chance.

Phillips then lined a single to center to score Cairo.

And a day at the park was wasted for a team that had won five of its last six home games. The Mets scored two unearned runs in the first inning when the Yankees committed two of their four errors. Carlos Delgado hit his 14th home run in the fourth and Floyd belted his fourth three innings later. Martinez, winless in four starts, allowed four hits, all singles, two by Alex Rodriguez, walked one and struck out eight.

"It stinks because Pedro was out there giving a dominating performance," Wagner said, lengthening his lament. "It's a game we had and we should have won -- Yankees or no Yankees."

But it was the Yankees.