Brandon Phillips dejection over his baserunning blunder in the top of the ninth on Thursday was evident long after his club had lost, 3-2.

He wasted little time in erasing his failures from the previous night on Friday.

Phillips belted a grand slam in the first off John Maine enroute to tying his career-high with six RBI as the Reds won for the sixth time in eight games, 8-4, over the Mets at Shea Stadium.

Alex Gonzalez had two hits and drove in two runs while Ryan Freel scored three times for Cincinnati, which improved to 6-2 under interim manager Pete Mackanin.

Aaron Harang allowed three runs and seven hits over six innings, walking two and striking out eight to improve to 5-0 in his last 10 starts.

Maine (10-5) tied his season-low by lasting 4 2/3 innings and surrendered a season-high seven runs – four earned – on six hits and three walks while fanning three.

Ruben Gotay extended his hitting streak to eight games with an RBI double and Lastings Milledge homered and drove in two runs for the Mets, who are 3-7 in July and just 15-22 since June 1.

With a 4-0 record and 1.80 ERA in his previous four starts, Maine got into immediate trouble in the first inning following a seven-day layoff between starts.

Freel squibbed a double past David Wright at third and moved up on Norris Hopper’s bunt single. After a walk to Ken Griffey Jr., Phillips (3-for-5, 2B, HR, 6 RBI) belted Maine’s first pitch into the bleachers in left for his second grand slam in 11 days.

New York cut the lead to 4-1 in the fourth, but the Reds put the game away with three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth.

Errors by Gotay on successive plays to start the fifth allowed Freel and Hopper (2-for-5) to reach safely. Following a flyout by Griffey, Phillips’ doubled down the line in left to score Freel for a 5-1 lead. After a walk to Adam Dunn loaded the bases, Scott Hatteberg popped up for the second out but Gonzalez (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) followed with a two-run single to left that chased Maine from the game.

Phillips tied his career-high of six RBI with a single off Mike Pelfrey in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-1.

The seven-run cushion was more than enough for Harang (10-2), who fanned eight for the second straight start and became the first Reds starter to open 10-2 since Steve Parris in 1999.

The Mets had a chance to get back into the game in the fourth but their Achilles heel thus far – hitting with runners in scoring position – reared its ugly head yet again.

Jose Reyes led off with a walk and scored easily when Gotay (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) sliced a two-bagger to the wall in left-center. Carlos Beltran walked and after Wright went down looking, Carlos Delgado singled sharply to right to load the bases.

However, Harang induced Paul Lo Duca – who is now 0-for-16 since returning from a two-game suspension – to ground into an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play.

Wright and Delgado (2-for-3, 2B, RBI) collected consecutive doubles in the sixth to produce a run and after Shawn Green singled, Milledge plated another with a groundout to third.

The 22-year-old ripped a solo blast, his first of the season, off ex-Met Mike Stanton in the eighth.

With their lead in the National League East down to 1 1/2 games for the first time since May 22, the Mets (49-40) will turn to their crafty veteran to help them rebound on Saturday night. Tom Glavine (7-6, 4.36) will take another crack at career win No. 298 as he makes his first start of the second half for New York. The 41-year-old southpaw allowed three runs in seven innings against the Astros last Saturday, but was long gone by the time his teammates pulled out a 5-3 win in 17 innings. Although Glavine wasn’t involved in the decision his only start against the Reds last season when he surrendered two runs over 6 1/3 frames, he has enjoyed great success against the team from the Queen City in his career, going 26-12 with a 3.40 ERA in 47 starts.

Although they still own the worst record in the National League, the Reds (37-53) have played much better since the firing of manager Jerry Narron eight games ago. Matt Belisle (5-6, 5.28) will look to give his club their seventh victory in nine games when he takes the hill on Saturday for his 18th start of the season. The 27-year-old right-hander is winless over his last six outings (0-2) dating back to May 29 and has been hit hard in his two most recent appearances, yielding 11 runs and 14 hits – including three home runs – in just nine innings. Belisle has faced the Mets just once in his career, a 1 2/3-inning stint in relief in 2005.

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