The Mets dropped their fourth consecutive game Monday night, making four more errors and wasting Carlos Beltran's 30th homer in a 12-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Add in their six miscues Sunday, and the Mets set a franchise record with 10 errors over two games. They never had more than eight Es over two games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Heck, even Casey Stengel's woeful '62 Mets never had a fielding fiasco of this magnitude.

New York, swept by Philadelphia at home this past weekend, saw its lead in the NL East trimmed to 2 1/2 games over the second-place Phillies, who held on to beat St. Louis 13-11 later Monday.

And those three losses to the Phillies were quite similar to what happened Monday - shaky bullpen work compounded by mental and physical miscues.

Two of Monday's errors came on consecutive plays during the sixth inning, when Washington managed to score four runs with the benefit of only one hit.

That came on the heels of a four-run fourth and a one-run fifth, and right before a three-run seventh for the Nationals, who have the lowest-scoring offense in the majors.

Nook Logan led Washington with three hits and three runs, and pretty much everyone contributed, including Wily Mo Pena with two hits and two RBIs, Brian Schneider with a two-run double and Ryan Church with his second career pinch-hit homer.

It all helped Jonathan Albaladejo (1-0) earn his first major league victory with 1 1-3 scoreless innings. Albaladejo and four other relievers combined for five shutout innings after starter Tim Redding staked the Mets to a 4-0 lead.

Ah, wouldn't the Mets love that sort of help from the bullpen.