NEW YORK -- The Mets' losing streak against the Phillies reached five Friday. They lost a coin flip to the second-place team, too. So now, if the Mets and Phillies are tied for first place after 162 games, and a second-place team from a different division has a better record and therefore qualifies as the Wild Card team, the Mets and Phillies will play a one-game playoff. And because the Mets lost the flip, the game will be played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadephia, where the Mets were swept in four games last week.

"I think we've had some problems there. Right?" David Wright said, seemingly unconcerned.

Aaron Heilman thought unconcerned was the way to be: "How many games do we lead the division by? Talk to me when it's one."

"What did [the flip] come up as?" Paul Lo Duca wanted to know. "Tails never fails."

Tom Glavine said "heads" was the only way to go. "Who called it for us?" he wanted to know.

But it was Billy Wagner who put it into perspective. He put his tongue in his cheek and said: "I'd rather just go ahead and kill myself."

If at first: Carlos Delgado is exactly that -- an if. The Mets have said publicly that the right hip flexor strain that has rendered their first baseman unavailable to play for now may keep him unavailable for seven-to-10 days. But internally, a sense exists that Delgado may need more time to recover.

Delgado has never experienced a comparable injury and has no idea how much time he will need to recover. He does consider himself a fast healer, so who knows?

Delgado's hip remains sore, and he excused himself from batting practice and infield drills last night. He took treatment in intervals throughout the game. Delgado lamented his absence, and Willie Randolph sneered at the misfortune.

"If we hadn't batted around, he doesn't even get up again," the manager said. "He was coming out of the game. But he got that extra at-bat, and look what happened."

Medic II: Randolph believes Orlando Hernandez will return to the rotation against the Braves -- Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. He was unsure which. But Wednesday seems most likely.

Gomez returns: Randolph acknowledged that Carlos Gomez could be on the postseason roster, which seemed quite possible since the Mets just promoted the young outfielder from their Triple-A New Orleans affiliate while it still was involved in the Pacific Coast League playoffs.

This date in Mets history -- Sept. 8: Their losses numbered 97 when the Mets initiated a four-game winning streak on this date in 1963 with a 3-2 victory against the Reds in Cincinnati. The four games would be their final winning streak of the season. They lost 14 of their last 16 games to finish with 111 losses, nine fewer than they suffered the previous season, their inaugural season. ... The '69 Mets, having gained ground on the first-place Cubs for four straight days, closed to within 1 1/2 games on this date, beating the Cubs, 3-2, at Shea Stadium. Jerry Koosman struck out 13 in a complete game, and Tommie Agee hit a two-run home run off Bill Hands.

The Mets, eventual division champions, still were six games under .500 and four games from first place after they lost to the Expos at Parc Jarry on this date in 1973. Steve Rogers outpitched Tom Seaver in the 3-1 loss. Twenty games -- they would play 19 -- remained in the Mets' season. ... The division race all but decided, the second-place Mets were beaten, 6-0, by the first-place Cubs at Shea on Sept. 8, 1984, and fell seven games behind. Rick Sutcliffe, the eventual Cy Young Award winner, pitched a four-hitter. He had a 3-0 record and a 2.61 ERA in four starts against the Mets that season. ... On this date in 2000, the Mets were six losses into a 1-7 slide that denied them a chance to win the division. With manager Bobby Valentine falling on his sword, they lost, 2-0, to Bruce Chen and five Phillies relievers.

Coming up: Glavine, who has more victories as a Met than all but 10 pitchers, seeks his 61st for the team and the 303rd of his career when he faces the Astros on Saturday afternoon at 1:10 ET. Steve Trachsel ranks 10th in Mets history with 66 victories, more than any other Mets pitcher this decade.

Woody Williams starts for the Astros.