Willie Randolph's expression never changed Tuesday night, not when the Nationals cut the Mets' lead to 5-2, not when Washington began rallying again after the Mets added a couple of runs, not when John Maine hung a slider and Ronnie Belliard tomahawked it disdainfully, as if the pitch was not worthy of a big league pennant race.
Randolph's stoic outward demeanor held, as the Mets went from four up over the Nats to losing, and by the time the Phillies finished rallying in St. Louis, again -- the Phillies seem to have reinvented the concept of the comeback -- the Mets' lead, once seven games, was down to 1½ games.
And there is other bad news for the Mets, as well:
Moises Alou is
out with a quad problem, and
Orlando Hernandez doesn't know if or when he's going to pitch again this year, as Ben Shpigel writes.
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Buster Olney
