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......

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......

Nationals 9, Mets 8: If a four-run lead can't stand up against the Nationals, against whom will it last? The Mets are hoping what was a seven-game lead as recently as Sept. 12 stands up, but they're not helping their fans maintain regular heartbeats. John Maine hit before he threw a pitch and still couldn't get out of the fifth. That's against a team that's last in the Major Leagues in runs scored and playing......

Phillies 4, Mets 2: The two runs in the second were nice, but not scoring for nine innings after that didn't work out that well. The Mets gave back their 2-0 lead in the third inning and then exchanged baserunning mistakes and inept offense with Philadelphia until the 11th inning. Pedro Feliciano came in to pitch and did just what Manager Willie Randolph wanted from a lefty specialist: He gave up a home run to......

Yankees 9, Red Sox 5: Now the Yankees only trail their rivals in the American League East by 12 1/2 games. They rocked Tim Wakefield -- again -- and then held on for a 9-5 win in the first of three games at Fenway Park this weekend. A four-run sixth, including a three-run double by Jorge Posada, didn't hurt. Wakefield has been great against the American League this season but not against the Yankees, against......

Mets 6, Cubs 5: Manager Willie Randolph appeared to give up on this game before it started. With Jason Vargas fresh up from Triple-A to take the mound and the Mets coming off a game that ended past 1 a.m. Thursday morning, the Mets rested Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Jose Reyes and Damion Easley. Paul LoDuca also rode the pine, but that was an expected move for a catcher and a day game following a......

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......

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......