Take your time with that recovery from a hernia Moises Alou, an 'Angel' has you covered.

Angel Pagan's single up the middle narrowly scored Jose Reyes with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th as the Mets overcame another bullpen meltdown against the Phillies to win consecutive games for the first time this season, 4-3, in front of 49,049 on Thursday night at Shea Stadium.

Center fielder Jayson Werth's throw was on line and on time to catcher Chris Coste, who blocked the plate perfectly, but home plate umpire Ted Barrett ruled Reyes touched home with his hand before being tagged.

After Tom Gordon retired Brian Schneider and Brady Clark to start the 12th, Reyes (2-for-6, 2B, SB) stroked a double to right center before racing home on Pagan's groundball single.

Thought of as a potential fifth outfielder when he was reacquired by the Mets from the Cubs on Jan. 5, the 26-year-old used a hot spring and an injury to Alou to vault himself into the starting lineup. Pagan hasn't disappointed in the early going, leading the team in batting (.370), runs (8) and RBI (9). His game-winning single increased his average with runners in scoring position to .600 (6-for-10).

The game never would have reached extra innings if not for another comeback by the Phillies against New York's bullpen, something that has become all-too familiar in the last year. With his club ahead, 3-1, in the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Heilman promptly surrendered a monstrous home run to Ryan Howard, his second, to start the inning. A walk to Pat Burrell and a single by Geoff Jenkins put runners at the corners with nobody out.

Pedro Feliz's groundout to David Wright scored pinch-runner So Taguchi with the tying run.

After not allowing a single run over eight spring appearances, Heilman has surrendered two runs in three consecutive outings, ballooning his ERA to 9.00 in five innings this season.

The Mets had a chance to re-take the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Reyes singled and took second on a sacrifice by Pagan. After David Wright was walked intentionally, both runners executed a double steal, their first stolen bases of the year. However, Carlos Beltran went down swinging at a J.C. Romero slider and Carlos Delgado grounded to third for the final out of the inning.

Beltran had another chance to end the game in the 10th, but he swung and missed at a full-count offering by Phillies reliever Rudy Seanez with Wright at second and two men down.

The Mets and hurler Joe Smith dodged a huge bullet in the top of the 11th when Jayson Werth reached on an infield single and Cole Hamels, sent up to sacrifice by Phils skipper Charlie Manuel, dropped down a beautiful bunt that Wright and Schneider could not come up with. Eric Bruntlett, who again filled in for Jimmy Rollins at shortstop, struck out attempting to sacrifice the runners over.

With the left-handed Chase Utley due up, Mets manager Willie Randolph brought in southpaw and Public Enemy No. 1 at Shea, Scott Schoeneweis. There would be no boos for the veteran on this night, however, as he induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Schoeneweis retired two batters in the 12th before giving way to Jorge Sosa, who needed just one pitch to retire Feliz on a groundout to third.

Heilman's hiccup in the eighth cost starter John Maine his first victory of the season, despite an inconsistent evening. Markedly better than his four-inning, four-run outing in his 2008 debut last Saturday in Atlanta, the right-hander did not allow a run until Feliz (1-for-6, HR, 2 RBI) led off the seventh with his first longball of the year.

Following a double to left by Coste, Maine was lifted and walked off to a standing ovation from the Shea faithful after allowing just the one run on five hits and five walks with one strikeout in six-plus innings.

Left-hander Pedro Feliciano entered and promptly walked Werth to put two runners on, but he rebounded by striking out Shane Victorino, Bruntlett and Utley to end the threat.

Adam Eaton turned in his second straight solid outing for the Phillies, but fell behind in the fourth. Pagan led off the inning with a single and after Wright went down swinging, Beltran earned a one-out walk. Delgado's groundout moved both runners into scoring position and Ryan Church (2-for-5, 2 RBI) plated both with a basehit to left-center.

Beltran's RBI single in the sixth scored Pagan for a 3-0 edge.

Eaton, who entered the game 5-0 in his career against New York, allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five in six innings.

Billy Wagner struck out two in a scoreless ninth, including a pinch-hitting Rollins. Smith, Schoeneweis and Sosa (1-0) combined for three scoreless frames for the Mets.

Ryan Madson, Romero, Brad Lidge and Seanez did not allow a run in their four innings of work for Philadelphia. Gordon (0-2) was saddled with the loss after yielding a run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Back at the .500 mark, the Mets (4-4) get set to open a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers beginning Friday night at Shea. Brooklyn native Nelson Figueroa (0-0, 9.00) gets the call in his first start as a Major Leaguer since Sep. 23, 2004 when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A 30th round selection by New York in the 1995 draft, the 33-year-old has since toiled in the minors as well as in Mexico and Taiwan before signing with the Mets this past offseason. Figueroa is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA in five career appearances (two starts) against Milwaukee, and coincidentally, earned his last Major League victory against them in August 2003.

Despite a loss on Thursday, the Brewers (6-3) are off to a hot start for the second consecutive season. Manny Parra (1-0, 3.37) will kick off the opener as he makes his second start of the year. The 27-year-old earned his first big league victory against San Francisco in his season-debut, allowing two runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings. A native of Carmichael, CA, Parra tossed a perfect game last year for Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. The left-hander pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out eight in a relief appearance against the Mets last season.