Few answers for stunned Mets after collapse
NEW YORK – Back on Sept. 14, nobody at Shea Stadium realized what was starting to unfold.
Tom Glavine was cruising along for the Mets with a two-run lead against Philadelphia before Chase Utley hit a tying homer in the sixth. New York made a couple of late mistakes on defense and lost 3-2 in 10 innings.
Seemed harmless enough. The Mets still held a 5 1/2-game cushion in the N.L. East and were 20 games above .500 with 16 to play. Go get ‘em tomorrow, wrap it up soon.
They never did.
The Phillies completed a three-game sweep and New York went 5-12 down the stretch in one of the most stunning and colossal collapses in baseball history.
“We blew it,” Carlos Delgado said Monday as the Mets packed their bags.
An 8-1 loss to Florida in the season finale Sunday – with Glavine getting chased after just one out – allowed the Phillies to win the division title by a game when they beat Washington.
The talented Mets were left out of the playoffs, making them the first major league team that failed to finish in first place after owning a lead of seven games or more with 17 remaining. New York, which had that margin on Sept. 12, also matched the largest lead blown in September.
“It still doesn’t feel like the season is over. It feels like we should be playing today, but we didn’t make it,” pitcher John Maine said.
In a town where the Mets often struggle to take headlines away from the crosstown Yankees, the not-so-Amazin’s owned the tabloids Monday – for all the wrong reasons.
The back page of the New York Post blared: “CHOKED TO DEATH.” The front page of the Daily News read: “FROM CHAMPS TO CHUMPS.”
“It’s hard to figure out how it happened,” pitcher Orlando Hernandez said through a translator.
The answer, as always, starts with pitching. New York’s ERA over the final 17 games was 5.96, third-worst in the majors during that span. With Hernandez sidelined by a foot injury and the 41-year-old Glavine fading at the end of his 21st season in the big leagues, the starters rarely got deep into games.
Pedro Martinez performed well after returning from shoulder surgery, but his pitch count was monitored closely, and the Mets insisted on giving him an extra day of rest between outings on the advice of their medical staff.
New York blew big leads in games started by Brian Lawrence and Philip Humber, who made his first big league start Wednesday in a crucial situation.
Those problems put pressure on an unreliable and already overworked bullpen, which wilted in September. All-Star closer Billy Wagner wasn’t the same in the second half, and he was unavailable because of back spasms when the Mets squandered a 7-4 lead in the ninth inning Sept. 20 at Florida.
The defense made it worse, committing 21 errors during the skid – including a club-record 10 in a two-game span. And when New York got a solid effort from Martinez Thursday night against St. Louis, the offense was shut down by journeyman Joel Pineiro in a 3-0 loss.
“I think we learned a lesson,” Delgado said. “I think we have to play harder. We need to find a way to stay focused and stay sharp for 162 games.”
So who’s to blame? Is it manager Willie Randolph, who maintained a calm public demeanor throughout the massive slide? GM Omar Minaya, who constructed this aging team with a deficient bullpen? Or the players, who perhaps took success for granted?
Remember, it was only a year ago that the Mets advanced to Game 7 of the N.L. Championship Series before losing 3-1 to St. Louis.
“You say to yourself, `You know what? We’re better than an 88-win team,’ ” Minaya said during a news conference. “But it’s not only about talent.”
Even when pressed, Minaya wouldn’t say for certain that Randolph will be back. The GM said he’s happy with Randolph’s body of work for the past three years, but first must present his overall review to ownership.