When tonight being the night Terry Collins became the Mets all-time leader in games managed, you knew tonight couldn’t be easy no matter how far ahead the Mets got. 

As it turns out, the Mets jumped out to a big lead despite falling to completely cash-in on their opportunities. 

In the first, the Mets loaded the bases with no out. The only run the team would score would be on a Neil Walker RBI ground out. Walker got the RBI because Angels first baseman (and former Mets prospect) Jefrey Marte dropped the throw on what should’ve been a double play. 

In the third, the Mets had second and third with no outs after Jose Reyes stole second. Michael Conforto would score on a Jay Bruce sacrifice fly. Reyes tagged up and went to third on the play. He’d be stranded there despite reaching third with less than two outs. 

The Mets loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fifth against Angels starter Alex Meyer leading to a pitching change. Walker greeted Jose Alvarez with a two RBI bloop single. Instead of putting the game completely away, the Mets wouldn’t plate another run in the inning carrying a 4-0 lead into the sixth. 

It did look like it was going to be enough as Zack Wheeler was cruising. He had pitched five scoreless allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out five. 

He then fall apart in the fifth allowing issuing back-to-back walks to start the inning. He then yielded a single to Andrelton Simmons to load the bases, and he plunked Marte to make it a 4-1 game. 

Fernando Salas would come on in a huge spot, and for the first time since the beginning of the season, Salas came up huge. He yielded no more than an RBI ground out there for preserving the Mets lead. Due to Salas’ work, Wheeler was still in line for a win. 
With Robert Gsellman pitching two scoreless, looking like the guy we all thought could be a Rookie of the Year candidate, and the Mets tacking on runs, the game appeared to be in the bag. 

It became time to test out the lower end relievers after a big eighth. Lucas Duda got things started with a two out double. Rene Rivera was intentionally walked. Wilmer Flores hit an RBI double scoring Duda. On the play, Rivera got caught on a rundown. With Simmons dropping the ball, Rivera was able to stay alive. 

He then scored on a Reyes RBI single. It was a huge night for Reyes in that not only did go 3-4, but he also recorded his 2,000th career hit. 

The Mets entered the ninth with a 7-2 lead, which was the perfect spot to bring in Neil Ramirez and his 8.71 ERA. After tonight, it appears there’s no real spot for Rivera

He loaded the bases in the ninth without recording a win. The Mets would need to bring on Addison Reed for his sixth save of the season. It wasn’t easy with him allowing all the inherited runners from Ramirez to score. One of those runs scored on a sac fly when Trout just missed one. 

In any event, Reed closed the door, and Collins has coaching more games than anyone else. The Mets have also shaved 2.5 games off the standings over this recent hot stretch. 

Game Notes: The Mets played some good defense today. Conforto had a leaping catch and nails someone at the plate. Also T.J. Rivera made a diving stop at third and throw out the runner   first.