It seems that Billy Wagner was angry at Oliver Perez, for only pitching 1 2/3 innings in a 13-1 loss to the last-place Pirates.

"Perez has honestly got to step up and know that we've just used every guy in our bullpen the night before," a visibly disgusted Wagner said. "He can't come out there and decide that, gee, he hasn't got it today and so be it."

"The tone was set early, [Perez] . . . was all over the place, and we didn't help him out by catching the ball," manager Willie Randolph said. "We didn't get any timely hitting. It was like how we've played all year in one package."

"He has to be mature enough and strong enough to let that pass," Randolph said.

The Mets put up with Perez (2-2) because he can also be tantalizingly brilliant, too. This wasn't one of those times, and Perez readily admitted it.

"Sometimes you don't have your stuff," he said. "I had trouble throwing strikes. Everybody can have a bad day. Today was one of those days."

-nypost