NEW YORK -- Mets left-hander Oliver Perez earned something of a reputation as a big-game pitcher last October when he held the Cardinals in check for six innings during the National League Championship Series in the most important game of his life.

Friday night's game couldn't quite compare to that one, and neither could Perez.

Entrusted with whatever confidence the Mets had heading into the season's final weekend, Perez couldn't reward the team's faith. There were no bounding hops over the foul line in this one -- Perez's signature acknowledgement of a job well done. Instead, there was dejection, and the sinking feeling the season's end might be less than two days away.

"I was just trying to do my job," Perez said. "I was just trying to help my team, and I didn't do it."

The Mets have endured Perez's two-pronged act all season long, mainly because Jekyll has showed up far more often than Hyde. When Perez was sharp -- and often he was -- he showed flashes of being among the top handful of pitchers in the league.

And when he wasn't, as was the case Friday, he often didn't give the Mets much of a chance.

Perez found a unique way to express his wildness in this one, hitting three batters in one inning. Not even the Mets had seen an accomplishment of that variety in their often quirky history, though they probably wish they still haven't. Two of those hit batsmen came with the bases loaded in the third, and all of them helped ensure Perez wouldn't see the end of the fourth.

"I don't think I've ever seen that before," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "That's been his Achilles' heel at times. He can be blowing you away and throwing the ball great, and all of the sudden, he loses his release point."

It's not the first time Perez struggled with control this season, and it probably won't be the last. Every time he has had a bad outing, his first reaction has always been to look toward tomorrow. And it has been genuine. Tomorrow is another day, another game, another chance to bring his stronger half to the ballpark. Often, he has.

This time, he can't.

"You just have to learn," Perez said, "and try to be ready for tomorrow."

But there are likely no more tomorrows -- at least not for Perez this season. Should the Phillies or Padres or anybody else accidentally help the Mets' cause this weekend, then perhaps Perez will find another opportunity to ditch Hyde and regain his better half.

But without a little luck, Jekyll, for this season, may just have thrown his final pitch.