All it took was 1 2/3 innings yesterday, for Oliver Perez to sink the Mets against the punchless Pirates. It was the Mets who looked like a ship of fools and not the Pirates who are the worst team in the league.
It seems like every time Perez takes the mound he demoralizes his team by his lack of focus and care free attitude after each loss. His presence on the mound virtually sends shudders of fear down the spines of everyone in the bullpen, none more-so than closer Billy Wagner.
Wagner has seen enough as the season’s first month came to an end, and he launched a full frontal assault on what he called "signs of trouble ahead".
On Oliver Perez – "Perez has honestly got to step up and know that we’ve just used every guy in our bullpen the night before," Wagner said. "He can’t come out there and decide that, gee, he hasn’t got it today and so be it."
On Willie Randolph – "It’s very easy to say, ‘Hey, yeah, you’re going to have these games,’ and you will have these games, but when there’s not a lot of effort and a lot of desire, that’s when you worry."
On the team – "I just think that today we just didn’t show up. I’m not saying that Pittsburgh can’t beat the New York Mets. I’m just saying there’s no way we should have this lopsided of a score. We weren’t good at defense. We weren’t good at pitching. There was no get up and go. That can’t happen."
Sure, Billy Wagner has a long history of foaming at the mouth and blasting his team, but one could hardly disagree with the points he made yesterday after the game.
The Mets looked completely inept defensively, brain damaged fundamentally, and embarrassingly impotent offensively. Let’s face it, the Mets battleship was already taking on water long before Oliver Perez took the mound and sunk it.
