WASHINGTON -- The Mets were searching for reassurance. Precious little was available, though, in the aftermath of such an unbecoming defeat. A vexing loss Sunday had been followed by a more damaging one Monday night. The Mets had lost successive games for the first time since late August. They had been steamrolled by an inferior opponent. Their pitching was poor and their hitting inadequate. Their timing was worse.

On this night, encouragement was available only in the standings. And that's where Brian Schneider looked after a troubling 7-2 loss to the Nationals, the team with the worst record in the game.

"We've still got the lead; we're still in first place," the Mets catcher said, even though the team's margin for error is so terribly narrow now.

The first-place Mets and second-place Phillies, separated by 3 1/2 games Wednesday evening, today are a half-game apart. And though their closest pursuers went unmentioned during the postmortems of this one, the Mets, to a man, were aware of the Phillies' proximity. Fractions speak louder than words.

Members of first-place teams in tight races often dismiss the pressure of being pursued by saying "We control our own destiny," or "If we win, it doesn't matter what any one else does" ... things of that nature. That phrasing applied to the Mets in particular Monday night if only because the Phillies were off. But the Mets couldn't control the Nationals, and what the have-not Nats did mattered much.

Now the Mets are left to convince their doubters -- and themselves -- that no link between this September and last exists, that the page they say they turned long ago hasn't flipped back on them. The last three days have produced three losses, a victory and unsolicited reminders of the slippery slope of '07.

"It's a part of who we are," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said before this one blew up in his players' faces. "Until we win or get to the playoffs, that's going to be the subject matter."

And as long as the Mets provide so little resistance against such an undistinguished opponent in such important circumstances, the parallels to last summer's fall will be underscored.

These are the same Nationals who were responsible for five of the nine losses the Mets suffered in their final 14 games last season. TiVo isn't needed, they all recall.

The Mets were beaten this time by a pitcher they had handled three times previously this season. Their record in those games was 3-0. But this time, John Lannan was more effective, less generous and more successful. Battered by the Mets at Shea Stadium last week, he limited them to one hit in seven innings on Monday. Lannan (9-13) struck out seven and walked three.

"It's baffling," Ryan Church said. "I don't know how he gets away with what he throws."

Lannan surrendered a leadoff double by Brian Schneider in the second inning that led to the Mets' first run. Not until Luis Castillo doubled leading off the eighth against reliever Garrett Mock did the Mets produce another hit. They scored in the inning and had the bases loaded with one out and David Wright facing left-handed reliever Mike Hinckley. Wright grounded into an inning-ending double play on a 2-0 pitch.

"He probably got a little excited and wasn't able to put a good swing on it," Manuel said.

"I got too aggressive and swung at a pitch I should have taken," Wright explained.

But there's almost no explaining how the Mets can bat .209 in 158 at-bats with the bases loaded this season. "One of those things" doesn't suffice.

While the Mets' offense was pit in a straitjacket, the Nationals beat up Pedro Martinez and Duaner Sanchez. Martinez allowed four runs in six innings and Sanchez allowed three in the seventh, coming on a home run by Elijah Dukes.

Armed once again with his cutter -- Martinez hadn't thrown it in his preceding five starts because of a blister on the middle finger of his right hand -- the Mets' starter wasn't sharp. He had gone seven days without pitching, his 18th start pushed back two days because of the rainout on Friday. The location of his pitches was imprecise, especially early. The steep mound at Nationals Park was a bother. He allowed eight hits and four walks.

One of the eight hits was a two-run, two-out single by Anderson Hernandez, of all people. The former Met now has 15 big league RBIs, with five coming against the Mets in the last week.

"I wanted him to make contact," said Martinez, who struck out three. "I got the ground ball I wanted. You can't do anything after that except let it go."

But Hernandez's RBIs could have been overcome. Dukes' home run eliminated any sense of comeback the Mets harbored. Sanchez's poor performance probably moved him back, close to the end of Manuel's planned bullpen procession. At this point, Sanchez may stand behind Bobby Parnell, the rookie, who pitched a clean eighth inning in his big league debut.

Aside from Parnell's cameo appearance, it all made for a fairly miserable evening. Teams that don't hit look flat. Or is it that flat teams don't hit? Teams in first place shouldn't show so little resistance.

"It shoudn't happen," Manuel said, "at this time of year."