Results tagged “managerwillierandolph”

A Historic Collapse: The Mets held a seven-game lead with 17 to play and were caught looking ahead to the playoffs. What followed was among the worst collapses in history and one that revealed the weaknesses of the players, the manager and the general manager. Jose Reyes and his questionable -- and downright poor -- play summed up the the performance on the field. Manager Willie Randolph's mismanagement of the bullpen came to light more down the stretch. So did Omar Minaya's complete neglect of the roster's periphery. The Mets trotted out inexperienced and ineffective pitchers down the stretch, and the bullpen that Randolph had to deal with wasn't that good to begin with thanks to some questionable trades. What this means for the 2008 season remains to be seen, but it cost the Mets fans Lastings Milledge, another symbol of the collapse. He was dumped dealt to the Nationals for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.

Marlins 8, Mets 7 (10 innings): Taking a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth against the Marlins should be no problem right? Not when Billy Wagner is mysteriously absent -- the Mets later said he was having back spasms -- and his replacements are the not-so-capable Pedro Feliciano and the highly inflammable Jorge Sosa. They combined to cough up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, ruining a dramatic comeback posted by the Mets in the top of the inning. Then Sosa gave up the winning run all by himself in the 10th. Why is Sosa in there? Because everyone else stinks or had been used, frankly. After seeing the right-hander struggle so frequently of late, Manager Willie Randolph still didn't look for another option.

• White Sox 4, Yankees 1: Despite entering the day leading the Major Leagues in runs scored, the Yankees offense hasn't looked great of late. White Sox starter Jon Garland became the latest opponent to shut down the Yankees bats, which were the main culprit on this 2-4 start to the road trip. Fans can't decide what to make of this team. Should they be glad their team is finally pitching better, or should they be upset the offense is wasting the newfound success on the mound? Probably the former. The Yankees and Mets square off for three games at Shea this weekend, and there's little doubt the Yankees need them more.
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Windows of opportunity in baseball often come in small sizes. After coming within a run of the National League pennant last season, the Mets hope their chance hasn't run out yet. Make no mistake, the Mets remain a force to be reckoned with and could end up finishing with a better result than they did last season. But they shouldn't expect the regular-season cakewalk they had last season, and they can't hope to be the prohibitive favorites to win the pennant. This year's edition is a talented but flawed team.

So far in this young baseball season, Tom Glavine has his stuff working. Unfortunately for him and the Mets, he faced Tim Hudson in yesterday's 2-1 loss to the Braves. Hudson was magnificent yesterday, throwing a perfect game into the 6th inning until Ramon Castro broke it with a single. Castro later threatened to score on a fly ball to left, but lead footed as he is, he was thrown out at home with a perfect throw from Braves left fielder Matt Diaz.