NEW YORK -- Eighteen innings and roughly half a day after they arrived at Shea Stadium, the Mets left learning little they didn't already know. They are still a flawed contender -- a team with plenty of talents and plenty of issues. And they remain the favorites to win the National League East, equal parts because of and in spite of the qualities they showed Sunday.

The Mets left perhaps a more damaged team than when they arrived. Combined with a 6-2 loss to the Phillies in Sunday's split doubleheader matinee, their 6-3 win in the nightcap did nothing to strengthen their record. The news that they may be without closer Billy Wagner for the balance of September did nothing to advance their psyche. And the Mets, despite their success against them this year, had to take solace in the fact that -- barring a sensational playoff scenario -- they will not face the Phillies again.

"Now, we're in a good position," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "They have to keep playing good baseball because they're behind. And we've got to do the same thing."

And a significant portion of that "we" will include Carlos Delgado, whose unthinkable run had already exhausted the list of valid superlatives heading into Sunday.

By the time Delgado's second home run of the nightcap came crashing down 460 feet from where its flight began, only one description remained. Most of the 54,980 fans in Shea Stadium knew it, causing their chants of "M-V-P" to rise above the applause. And Delgado embraced it, stepping out of the dugout for a curtain call.

"It's a lot nicer than the boos, I'll tell you that much," Delgado said.

Booed perhaps more often than any Met during last September's collapse, Delgado even received a cheer after striking out in the seventh. Figure that.

And though his homers packed more punch than anything else to grace Shea Stadium during Game 2, Delgado most impressed his manager with the two-run single he hit in the first inning, driving it up the middle to take advantage of a catcher's interference call and a close play at third. His hit capped a rally that weathered Cole Hamels, helping to ensure that the Phillies starter would pitch only five innings.

And it gave ample cushion to Johan Santana, opposing Hamels on the mound.

Brought to New York for just this reason, Santana pitched effectively into the eighth, allowing five hits and two runs in total. Two of them -- a home run and an RBI single -- came from Ryan Howard. And the other three were harmless.

So it was on Santana's back that the Mets were able to salvage the final game of a three-game series, and retain a two-game division lead. Had the Mets lost, they would have allowed the Phillies to skip town locked in a tie for first. But Santana ensured that they would leave without full control of their collective future.

"He did what an ace is supposed to do," Delgado said.

"That's why I'm here," Santana agreed. "I'm up to the challenge."

And it was a challenge. It always is with the Mets and Phillies, two teams of relatively equal strengths that need only a bounce or a break to claim superiority. That's how it was last season, when the Phillies needed all 162 of their games to prove an advantage over the Mets. And that's how it seemed this year, until the Mets discovered one piece -- Delgado -- that could put them over the edge.

They employed Delgado last year, too. But not like this. Not even close.

"It is nice to contribute," Delgado said. "It's been a great team effort. We've been able to play some great team baseball. We've been able to overcome some injuries, and we've been resilient. And that pumps you up."

To succeed in September, the Mets will need to be resilient yet again, proceeding without Wagner for possibly the rest of the year. That news forced Manuel to call this win "bittersweet," given the extra difficulty placed upon their final three weeks.

Bittersweet also was the fact that the Mets dropped the first half of the doubleheader, proving ineffective against Jamie Moyer's breaking pitches and falling, 6-2. But a three-game lead heading into this weekend's series ensured that the Mets would need to win only one game to remain on top. So they are on top. And they feel on top.

"We think we are as good as anybody," Delgado said. "We think we are the team to beat. We think what happened last year is not going to happen again, and we're very confident that we can get this done. It's definitely a different atmosphere here, a different feeling than it was last year."