Phillies Sweep Mets, Willie Goes Ballistic

Jimmy Rollins jumped up and down in the dugout, yelling "I told you, I told you, we're gonna win it all this season, I'm a Met killa, I'm a Met killa, better watch out!" as he stomped on a small Mr. Met doll on the ground. It was the top of the ninth when Pat Burrell hit a 2-2 pitch over the wall off Billy Wagner and tied a game the Mets should have won. It went downhill from there, ending in a 6-3 loss to the Phillies that had the Mets being swept at home for the first time since September of 2005.

After great starting pitching, Maine gave up a few key hits which cost the Mets 2 runs up to the 6th inning. Then, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, Delgado hit a bomb to deep right. Wright came up to the plate and hit what appeared to be a triple, until the umpires talked it over and decided that it was a home run since the ball hit the orange sign above the home run wall, an obvious call, and a good call. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel didn't think so, however, yelling at the umpires for several minutes, and coming back out to yell some more a few times.

"I just told him I didn't like his shirt. That, and I was mad at him for picking up the tab at dinner the night before. I mean, gosh dangit, I may be ugly and stupid, but I ain't broke! The other guy, I told him his eyes was pretty earlier, and he just ignored me, so I let him know I didn't appreciate that none too much," said the spluttering manager, smacking the mikes in front of him and walking out in a huff tripping over an electrical cord as he left.

Now with the game tied, LoDuca came to the plate and did something the Mets hadn't done in 18 years -- hit back to back to back home runs. He hit a solo shot off the left field wall that gave the Mets a 3-2 lead, a lead they would relinquish when Billy Wagner gave up a solo shot off Pat Burrell in the ninth. 2 runs later, the Mets were down for the count 6-3, and folded quickly on their last at bat.

Manuel's antics during the game, however, were nothing compared to Willie Randolph's post-game response, which could be characterized as an out of control temper tantrum. When asked what he thought about the game, Willie's face actually went red, and he took a big sigh, actually admitting that he was frustrated with the bullpen and how banged up his team was.

"We're just not doing well, even when we do well. When you get swept by the Braves or Boston, you can understand that, but not against the Phillies. This is just embarrassing," he said quietly, a seething storm brewing in his head. Then, after only waiting for 2 full minutes for another question, he excused himself politely. Usually, he waits a full 4-5 minutes before leaving the press.

"Yeah, I was surprised with how crazy he went," said Manny Fanny, a New York Post reporter. "He usually leaves about 4, maybe 5 full minutes for any more questions to be thought up, especially the really dumb ones, and usually we come up with one or two more. But when he said thank you after 2 minutes and just left, I was speechless. I couldn't even think. That's when we knew, he was REALLY pissed."