PHILADELPHIA -- Immediately upon popping up from his slide at second base, Jeff McNeil began wiggling his finger in a rapid circle, signaling to anyone who would listen that he had hit a game-tying two-run homer. McNeil was convinced of it. Umpires weren’t so sure, initiating a crew-chief review.

What Joe West saw on that tiny monitor was a microcosm of the Mets’ season. Rather than clear the fence to give the Mets new life, McNeil’s ball appeared to hit off a fan’s glove right near the top section of it. The next batter popped up to end the eighth inning Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park, sending the Mets to a 7-5 loss to the Phillies that dropped them a season-high six games under .500 (37-43).

• Box score

“A foot away,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “A foot away from tying it.”

All season, the Mets feel they’ve been a foot away, an inch away, the smallest ruler’s length from contention. When they dropped three of four to the Cardinals from June 13-16, the Mets believed the result easily could have been reversed. A week later, they seemed primed for a series win in Chicago, before a late home run forced them to settle for a split.

Much of that has been the product of a relief corps that ranks 28th in the Majors in ERA, and dead last in that category since mid-May. (After Wilmer Font gave up three runs in one-third of an inning Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park, the Mets’ bullpen ERA bloated to 7.44 in June, easily the league’s worst mark this month.) Much of it has also been due to the Mets’ inability to piece together all aspects of winning baseball -- offense, defense, pitching -- at the same time.

So it was Tuesday, when the offense produced 12 hits but the pitching folded for a second consecutive night. Although Walker Lockett held his own, departing after allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings, Font permitted two inherited runs to go on the rookie’s line. Those scored via a groundout and an infield single just far enough away from Robinson Cano -- “a foot away,” Callaway said again -- to prevent an inning-ending groundout. Font subsequently allowed consecutive home runs to Maikel Franco and Brad Miller, turning the Mets’ lead into a two-run deficit.

“It hurts a little bit,” Callaway said. “When you make a pitch, you get a ground ball and for whatever reason it goes somewhere where you can’t get an out, that takes the wind out of your sails.”

At least momentarily, the wind returned when McNeil pulled a Juan Nicasio pitch 107 mph toward the right-field fence with a man on base in the eighth. Out of the box, McNeil thought it was a homer. Callaway certainly hoped it was, though some in the visiting dugout believed a fan had interfered. For the Mets, no such luck; the ball did not clear the safety rail affixed to the top of the fence, and Citizens Bank Park ground rules stipulate that home runs must clear everything -- rail included.

“I thought I hit it well enough and that it was just going to sneak into the first row,” McNeil said. “To see it hit the top of the fence right there, it’s a little frustrating.”

For that reason, McNeil could not enjoy his 4-for-5 night, which raised his batting average to .348 -- second in the Majors behind Cody Bellinger (.353). Lockett could not enjoy an outing that was better than his final line -- four runs in 5 1/3 innings -- might indicate. The Mets, amidst a quiet clubhouse, could not enjoy their 11-game road trip, knowing it's no longer possible for them to emerge from it with a winning record.

“Today was definitely frustrating,” McNeil said. “We came so close to tying it up right there and it just didn’t go our way. Hopefully, it starts to go our way.”