On the Mets beat

In case you missed it, Pedro Feliciano ripped Mets management after Monday’s loss. Feliciano was upset he had to pitch 1 1/3 innings in the 11-1 blowout after pitching two innings the night before. Or he could have been upset he gave up six hits and three runs in those 1 1/3 innings. Either way, Feliciano criticized manager Willie Randolph’s decision to pinch hit for Darren Oliver in the sixth inning with the Mets trailing 3-1.
Here’s what he said:
“I don’t know why they pinch hit. [Oliver] is the long reliever. He has to [pitch] like three at least. They say the bullpen’s tired, so let him go three or four. I don’t know who messed up, but somebody messed up.”
Ouch. Randolph might be willing to listen to criticism from one Pedro, but this isn’t the one. This is what Randolph had to say about it before Tuesday’s game:
“I’ll have a little conversation with him later on about that. After a game, he’s frustrated, whatever, and said some things I was a little surprised at. We’ll talk about it later.”
Asked if he ever said something like that when he was a player, Randolph said:
“That’s not my style. I understand sometimes when players get frustrated or whatever. I’ve been on winners all my life and that’s not what they do. I’ll talk to him about it and see what he was thinking or feeling. We’ll talk about it.”