NEW YORK -- The Philadelphia Phillies cant find any relief from the bullpen blues this month.Brought into a tight game in the fifth inning, Frank Herrmann immediately gave up a three-run homer to Michael Conforto and the New York Mets broke away for a 10-5 win Friday night.Phillies relievers entered the game with a 1-7 record, seven blown saves and a 6.13 ERA in September -- they let leads get away in the ninth inning and again in the 11th Thursday night.We talked about how we like our young pitchers, which we do a lot. The whole bunch of them, manager Pete Mackanin said.Weve been in so many close games that we rely heavily on the bullpen for most of the year. Perhaps its catching up to us, he said.Confortos homer capped a six-run rally, and the Mets added three more against three relievers in the seventh.The Mets began the day tied with San Francisco for the wild-card lead. St. Louis lost and trails New York by 1 1/2 games.Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (12-10) was coming off his first shutout since 2011. He took a 3-1 lead into the fifth, but the Mets loaded the bases with one out. Curtis Granderson singled home a run and Kelly Johnson hit an RBI single, with another run scoring when rookie right fielder Roman Quinn overran the ball for a 4-3 lead.Herrmann came in, and Conforto connected on the fifth pitch.Fastball command, just couldnt find it, Hellickson said. I feel like thats the cause every time I come here. You lose the fastball command and I try to get a little too predictable and before you know it, Im at 30, 35 pitches in the inning.This combination of losing command and thats a good lineup and they put some good at-bats together, I just couldnt make a big pitch when I needed to, he said.A day after using 10 pitchers in a stirring 9-8, 11-inning win over the Phillies, the Mets sent out six more. With his team competing for a playoff spot, manager Terry Collins yanked starter Gabriel Ynoa after just two shaky innings.Robles preserved a 7-5 lead in the seventh, getting pinch hitter Tommy Joseph to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. Robles finished with hitless relief for his first career save.Maikel Franco homered for the second straight day and pinch hitter Darin Ruf also connected for the Phillies.Cesar Hernandez and Quinn hit RBI singles in the second off Ynoa. Hernandez has safely reached in 28 straight games, matching the best streak by a Phillies player since Chase Utley in 2011.THIS `N THATRuf hit his first home run of the season, and the second pinch-hit homer of his career. ... Franco hit his team-leading 24th homer, one more than Ryan Howard. ... Odubel Herrera stole his 25th base. ... Phillies starters hadnt given up more than three earned runs in 19 straight starts before Hellickson was charged with six in 4 1/3 innings.TRAINERS ROOMPhillies: RHP Jeanmar Gomez is feeling fine, but manager Pete Mackanin says he wont close for a couple of days. Gomez gave up a tying home run to Jose Reyes in the ninth inning Thursday night, and is 0-2 with a 16.20 ERA in 10 games this month.Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard has been scratched from his start Saturday night because of strep throat. Collins said Syndergaard might be able to start Monday or Tuesday at Miami.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Alec Asher (1-0, 2.16) makes his fourth start for the Phillies this year. He started against the Mets last Sept. 30 and gave up five runs while getting chased in the first inning.Mets: LHP Sean Gilmartin will pitch Saturday night in place of the ailing Syndergaard. Gilmartins only major league start came last year. He is 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA in 13 games this season, and got two outs Thursday night. 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Washington promptly jumped on Green Bay, taking a quick 11-0 lead. It was all Green Bay the rest of the way, though, as it advanced with a 35-18 win.Washington is hot again. After back-to-back home losses to Pittsburgh and Dallas to open the season, the Redskins are 5-1-1. The Packers have dropped three in a row and four of their last five to tumble to 4-5.The main thing is just sticking together and staying the course and preparing and working hard, Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. I think these guys play hard. We didnt point any fingers. We just continue to come to work and try to fight our way out of it and try to make plays in crucial situations.It has been the same message from Packers coach Mike McCarthy. Green Bay is in a rare spot, with a losing record through nine games for the first time since 2008. Thats also the last time they failed to make the playoffs.The Packers string of seven consecutive playoff berths is matched only by the New England Patriots. With Green Bays season in deep trouble, McCarthy is hoping for a repeat of last years playoff performance.I think you always look at your past experiences, McCarthy said. To me, thats part of developing your awareness and your instincts and how you move forward.With that, you have to make sure it applies to your current situation. I do that. I think everybody does that. Thats a part of this league. No one walks through the NFL unscathed.This is a tough spot as far as whats going on the last three weeks, but, if anything, it brings you back to your foundation and makes you focus even more on whats most important, and thats beating the Redskins.Doing that will be a major challenge. Washingtons offense is led by quarterback Kirk Cousins. He has thrown for 2,716 yards and completed 66.9 percent of his passes. He has one of the deepest group of pass-catching threats in the league, with six players having at least 26 receptions.Slot receiver Jamison Crowder and tight end Jordan Reed have a team-high 44 catches and receiver Pierre Garcon has added 42 catches.dddddddddddd.Green Bays pass defense, on the other hand, ranks 29th in opponent passer rating. Last week at Tennessee, the Titans threw five touchdown passes and only seven incompletions.The thing that has always impressed me from afar -- and then I think its like anything when you get to see a quarterback play live -- is the command of the offense, McCarthy said. Hes running it. Theres no ifs and buts. The way he gets in and out of plays, the way he distributes the football, hes accurate with the football. I think hes playing extremely well.On the other side of the ball, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has struggled for most of the season. Without even the pretense of a running game the last four weeks, Rodgers ranks in the bottom half of the league in passer rating, completion percentage and yards per attempt.Redskins cornerback Josh Norman doesnt care what the stats say, though. He considers Rodgers and the Patriots Tom Brady the best quarterbacks in the league.Hey, man, lets not get things mistaken over there. Thats No. 12, Norman said. That guy can hit you at any time, any place, anywhere, any given day, any given game.I really dont care what the outside noise is. I know who were facing and thats a cerebral quarterback thats the best of the best at what hes doing.Regardless of what others may think of him, I know for a fact that that is the toughest quarterback challenge to face because he has everything in his toolbox, in his arsenal, to make them win.Injuries have slammed the Packers. They had nine Week 1 starters out of the game by the end of last week, with right guard T.J. Lang (ankle) and left tackle David Bakhtiari (knee) dropping out of that blowout loss.Lang, especially, is out this week, but the Packers could get back outside linebacker Clay Matthews, who has missed the last three games, and tight end Jared Cook, who has missed the last six games. Bot are questionable. In four games without Matthews, the Packers have allowed an average of 34.5 points. ' ' '