Is Terry Collins Serious?

In the ninth inning this afternoon, instead of going to his closer in a tie game, Terry Collins opted to have career minor leaguer Scott Rice open the frame and allowed him to pitch to the heart of the Dodgers' lineup.  The move seemed ridiculous, and it wound up costing the Mets the game as Rice surrendered 2 runs in the Mets' eventual 3-2 loss.  So, what was Collins thinking?

After the game, Collins was asked why he turned to Rice and not Bobby Parnell.  Collins' response was that he didn't want to use Parnell in a tie game because he would then risk losing his services for tomorrow night.  There's a major flaw with that reasoning.  What's the flaw, you ask?  The flaw lies in the fact that Collins used Parnell anyway.  However, instead of using Parnell with the game tied, Collins opted to bring Parnell in after the lead was gone. 

As I noted in the game recap on Rising Apple, today's ninth inning move was a prime example why Terry Collins should not be managing the Mets beyond 2013.  Even worse than his failure to use Parnell was his contradictory excuse for it.