Terry Collins
The best way to summarize Zack Wheeler‘s start is he answered the bell. Despite throwing 89 pitches through five, he went out for the sixth. Even with him throwing 103 through sixth, he came out for the seventh.
In the sixth, it backfired a bit as Wheeler allowed a lead-off homer to Jake Lamb to tie the game at one. In the seventh, he gave up a lead-off single to the eighth place hitter Jeff Mathis. After that lead-off hit, Terry Collins lifted Wheeler.
Unfortunately, that meant Wheeler would not get the win despite a very good outing. He didn’t get the win because the Mets offense only registered one hit against the Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley.
The Mets did make that one hit off Godley count. In the second, Godley issued back-to-back one out walks to Jose Reyes and Curtis Granderson. Rene Rivera then got the Mets lone hit off Godley giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.
With the Mets not scoring more runs for Wheeler, he got a no decision despite striking out six and allowing just one run on seven hits and one walk.
He also didn’t get the win because Collins lifted him after one batter in the seventh. Wheeler started that inning despite his having an at-bat the prior half inning. In what was an obvious pinch hitting situation, Collins instead elected to play matchups.
Despite the lead-off hit to start the seventh, the Diamondbacks would not score a run. Jerry Blevins relieved Wheeler to face the left-handed hitting David Peralta. Peralta hit a shallow bloop to center that Granderson made a nice sliding play on.
Granderson couldn’t get to a bloop hit by the next batter Rey Fuentes. However, Granderson was able to nail Mathis who tried to go from first to third on the play. The one thing we learned on that play was just how slow Mathis is.
Collins then brought in Hansel Robles to pitch to Chris Owings. Look, anytime you can go through three pitchers when one would’ve sufficed, Collins is going to do it.
Mets dodged a huge bullet in the eighth when Paul Goldschmidt hit what appeared to be a go-ahead homer off Robles. Upon replay, it was ruled a double as Goldschmidt’s ball hit the yellow line. It should be noted for a manager hell-bent on playing matchups, Goldschmidt is now 5-6 off Robles.
The Mets good fortune was short-lived. After Lamb was intentionally walked, Yasmany Tomas hit a no-doubter to center giving the Diamondbacks a 4-1 lead. Later on in the inning, Mathis would hit a two run homer to make it 6-1. At that point, Robles would be lifted.
It should be noted Robles has had two rough appearances after he has been overworked like the rest of this Mets bullpen. In his first 18 appearances, Robles allowed three runs. He’s now allowed nine runs in his last two appearances. He’s apparently gassed. It’s not an excuse. It’s a fact.
Speaking of gassed, Collins went to the overused Josh Edgin who was greeted by Daniel Descalso with a home run. After that, Edgin finished the eighth in what could only be described as mop up duty.
That’s mop up duty for a reliever on pace to make over 80 appearances while Rafael Montero sat unused. If Montero isn’t being used in mop up duty, why is he on the team?
Wilmer Flores hit a two run pinch hit homer in the ninth to make the final score look more palatable. Still, whether it is 7-1 or 7-3, a loss is a loss.
The Mets have now lost five straight games and four straight on this road trip. All four of those games were winnable at some point. That point was up until a gassed bullpen was asked to get some outs. Something has to change and fast.
Game Notes: Asdrubal Cabrera missed the game with a thumb injury. The Mets are debating whether or not to put him on the DL.
Watching the game yesterday, we all got to see both Jerry Blevins and Addison Reed meltdown. Since both players were acquired by the Mets, both pitchers have been as dominant as you could expect. This was a day after Hansel Robles, who has arguably been the Mets best reliever this season, completely melted down. If you have been watching the Mets so far this season, you expected this to happen sooner or later.
With the loss of Noah Syndergaard and the rest of the starting pitching staff under-performing, Terry Collins has had to go to the bullpen far too frequently early this season. In fact, Jacob deGrom is the only starting pitcher who is averaging at least six innings this season. Essentially, the bullpen is needed for about 40% of the innings pitched in any game. The four extra inning games doesn’t help much either.
What also doesn’t help is how Collins has chosen to deploy his bullpen. Lately, we have seen Collins using multiple relievers to get through just one inning. What is bizarre about that approach is the score doesn’t matter. Collins is as prone to do this in a one run game as he is in a five run game. When you go to the well too often with the same guys time and again, you are going to tire your bullpen arms out. It’s now the middle of May, and the Mets are about one-fifth through their schedule. Here is the current pace for each of the Mets relievers:
No one has made more than 90 appearances in a season since Pedro Feliciano made 92 appearances for the 2010 Mets. The Mets currently have three relievers on pace to make 90 appearances. The last time there were multiple pitchers in baseball who made 90 appearances in a season was 1979. By the way, this is the only time it has happened in major league history. The last time there were five relievers who have made 80 plus appearances in all of baseball. On their own, the Mets are on pace to do that.
But it’s not just those relievers. Jeurys Familia was eligible to pitch in just 18 games between his suspension and subsequent surgery. Familia pitched in 11 of those games. At that usage rate, Familia was on a pace to appear in 99 games. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise as Familia has led the major leagues in appearances since the 2014 season.
Josh Smoker was demoted on May 9th due to his pitching to a 7.88 ERA and a 1.750 WHIP. When he was demoted, Smoker had appeared in 15 of the Mets 32 games. At the rate he was used, Smoker was on pace to appear in 76 games. That number usually leads most teams. That number was the sixth most on the Mets.
Since Paul Sewald has been recalled on May 1st, he is pitching on a pace to appear in 68 games this season. This makes him the reliever who has been pitching with a manageable workload. He is also one of the best relievers in the Mets bullpen right now.
Overall, this bullpen is being used at an unprecedented rate. As we saw in Milwaukee, this bullpen is starting to crack. That’s troubling when you consider the Mets have carried an extra reliever for much of the season. The blame for this goes on the starters for not going deep into games. It also goes on Collins for him not being judicious in how he deploys his bullpen arms. Whatever the case, what was once a strength for the Mets is now becoming a liability. Something has to change and fast.
Just like yesterday, Terry Collins asked too much from his starter, which is unfortunate because he’s really not asking that much right now. Yesterday, it was asking Matt Harvey to pitch six innings. Today, it was asking Robert Gsellman to pitch five innings.
Gsellman was struggling out there each and every inning. It all unraveled in the fifth. What was once a 4-2 lead became a 10-4 deficit. Gsellman got best around that inning allowing the first four Brewers to reach base. He’d depart the game not recording an out in the fifth, leaving the bases loaded, and the Mets still up 4-3.
That lasted a blink of an eye when Hansel Robles allowed a bases clearing double to the first batter he faced. With that, Gsellman’s final line in the loss was four innings, nine hits, six runs, five earned, three walks, and three strikeouts.
Robles also imploded. Despite his being double switched into the game, he only lasted one inning. That was because he allowed four runs on four hits and a walk. With that, his sparking 1.42 ERA is a pedestrian 3.15.
Robles blowing up was eerily reminiscent of the Mets bullpen getting beat up yesterday. In fact, the game was really a poor facsimile of yesterday’s loss.
This time it was Michael Conforto getting picked off second base instead of Jay Bruce. Neil Walker had another big game at the plate homering once again. Paul Sewald came on the eat some innings, and he allowed a run. Rafael Montero once again looked good out of the bullpen.
Then there were the things that were different. Jose Reyes played center field in the sixth inning before finishing the game at shortstop. T.J. Rivera played left field from the seventh inning on. Kevin Plawecki had a good day at the plate going 2-4 with a double and two RBI. There was some normalcy with Plawecki with the Brewers going two for three on stolen base attempts.
The main similarity to was the Mets losing. This game was by the score of 11-4. After a good stretch, the Mets have lost a game and a series. They’re now three games under .500, and they’re back at the drawing board.
Game Notes: Asdrubal Cabrera, who has struggled defensively, committed two errors on one play bringing his error total up to five on the season. He had just seven last year.
Was it too much rest? Was it Julian Edelman? Maybe it’s just that Matt Harvey still isn’t quite right. Whatever the case, this was another disappointing start for Harvey.
Through the first five innings, he was fighting it. He needed 97 pitches to get through those innings. His mechanics weren’t sharp. He was laboring. He was walking batters. He was getting hit hard. He didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning until the fifth.
In the second, he allowed a leadoff walk to Domingo Santana who then scored on a Jett Bandy double. On the play, Curtis Granderson had trouble both tracking it down and picking the ball up. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, but it was an ugly play.
Hernan Perez homered to start the third giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead. To be honest, the score probably should have been worse than that. They were really lucky to still be in the game.
They initially took advantage. Neil Walker brought the Mets within one with a fourth inning home run. The Mets then put together a two out rally in the sixth after Michael Conforto just missed hitting one out to deep center.
Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. Jay Bruce walked. Cabrera would score on an ensuing Walker RBI single. The rally ended when the Brewers put on a pickoff play, and Bandy caught Bruce sleeping. The play prevented the Mets from potentially taking the lead. They wouldn’t get close again.
Coming off a strong fifth, Terry Collins decided to stick with Harvey to start the sixth. What was a decent start Harvey could possibly build off of turned into a nightmare.
Eric Sogard and Orlando Arcia would hit back-to-back homers giving the Brewers a 5-2 lead. With that, a Harvey who was probably done after five innings was officially removed from the game.
It’s hard to tell why Harvey was still out there. It’s possible Collins thought Harvey found something and thought Harvey had another inning in him. Perhaps, he was trying to save his pen with Jeurys Familia going on the DL after his surgery today to repair the aneurysm in his throwing shoulder.
Whatever the case, Harvey struggled, and he got tagged with the loss. Brewers starter, Matt Garza, who was able to pitch the sixth, got the win.
The Mets bullpen behind Harvey would struggle. Josh Edgin allowed a double to Jonathan Villar. After a walk to Perez, there were runners at the corners with one out. Edgin would strike out Travis Shaw on a 3-2 pitch. Perez ran on the pitch, and he forced a run down allowing Villar to score.
Rafael Montero came on to pitch the seventh. While he looked pretty good, he still allowed a home run to Bandy to make it 7-2.
It wasn’t until Paul Sewald came on in the eighth that the Mets bullpen didn’t allow a run. The Mets could’ve used a little better effort from their bullpen as their offense came alive in the ninth.
Walker continued his terrific night leading off the ninth with a single. Overall, he was 3-3 with two runs, a walk, a homer, and two RBI. He’d move to third on a Granderson double, and he’d score on a T.J. Rivera RBI single. Granderson would score on a wild pitch to make it 7-4.
That would be the final score. You can’t win when the opposing team had as many home runs as you have runs scored. It was a night that had some promise, but it all fell apart in the bottom of the sixth.
Game Notes: Lucas Duda returned from the DL, and he was 1-4 with a double. With Duda being activated and Cabrera ready to play, Jose Reyes sat, and Rivera played. Rivera was 1-3 with an RBI and a walk.
So far this season, Terry Collins is using his bullpen heavily. Part of this is his starters do not go as deep into games as they once did. Another factor is Collins is over-managing at times to the point where he is doing matchups when the Mets have large leads late in games. As a result, four of the bullpen arms are on pace for more than 70 appearances in a season with two others not being far behind.
This would not be the first time Collins had a reliever make 70 appearances in a season. In fact, it won’t be the first time he has had multiple relievers make 70 appearances in the season. Can you name all the relievers who have made over 70 appearances in a season? Good luck!
Addison Reed Jeurys Familia Jerry Blevins Carlos Torres Scott Rice LaTroy Hawkins Bobby Parnell Jon Rauch Tim Byrdak
At this point, it’s almost become rote. The Mets have a lead late in the game, and Terry Collins inserts Juan Lagares into the game as a defensive replacement.
The move makes a lot of sense. Not only is Lagares a Gold Glover in centerfield, but the Mets also lack another true defensive center fielder. Another thing the Mets lack is a true defensive third baseman.
With David Wright‘s injury problems, the Mets have been forced to play players out of position. The results have been poor. The Mets collection of third baseman have a -1 DRS and -2.7 UZR which rank 20th and 27th in the majors respectively.
The main culprits there are Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores. Reyes has a career -8 DRS and -4.5 UZR at third base. Flores has a career -10 DRS and -1.9 UZR at third. Simply put, neither player is a third baseman.
We all saw that on yesterday’s game. Flores doesn’t have good range at third, and he’s iffy with his throws. In the sixth, he spiked a throw to home plate when he had Christian Arroyo dead to rights. It took a good play by Kevin Plawecki to save him from the error and to record the out.
There was no one to bail Flores out in the ninth. In what could’ve been a game ending double play, Flores threw the ball offline. A Neil Walker stretch prevented the ball from going into right field, big it couldn’t get the force out at second. As we know, this came back to haunt the Mets in a 6-5 loss.
The obvious question that arises is why was Flores still on the field. The Mets had a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning. Their closer, Jeurys Familia, is a sinker ball pitcher who generates a number of ground outs. With that being the case, isn’t it incumbent on Collins to put his best defensive infield out there?
Matt Reynolds, who is generally regarded as a good defensive infielder, was available on the bench. Certainly, he’s a better defender than Flores at third. Much better actually. Why wasn’t he in the game?
Keep in mind, this was another game Collins over-managed. He used four relievers to pitch two innings. He went to the extreme on the matchups to the point where he removed his eighth inning reliever, Addison Reed, because a left-handed batter was coming to the plate. He did that despite Reed pitching extremely well against left-handed batters during his time with the Mets.
If Collins is willing to empty his pen, why not his bench? What’s the justifiable reason for keeping the better infielder on the bench with a sinker ball pitcher on the mound? There is no good reason.
Look, we can all agree that it’s the players in the field who win or lose games. Certainly, Flores helped lost this game with his error. Familia was the one who gave up the subsequent hits. However, ask yourself whether Collins put his team in the best position to succeed in the ninth inning.
The answer to that needs to be a clear and unequivocal, “No.”
Imagine believing you need to use multiple relievers every inning. Imagine using the same relievers. relievers day after day after day. Sooner or later it catches up to you. That moment was today for the Mets.
It spoiled what was a good day for Tommy Milone. Despite being released by the Brewers and his not having started a game since April 25th, he pitched well.
Milone pitched five innings allowing six hits, two runs, two earned, and two walks with five strikeouts. He exited the game in the sixth after allowing back-to-back singles to Buster Posey and Christian Arroyo.
Fernando Salas came on for Milone and allowed one of the inherited runners to score. That run scored when Justin Ruggiano followed a Nick Hundley single with a deep sacrifice fly. From there Salas slammed the door shut.
Gorkys Hernandez grounded to the third baseman Wilmer Flores. Instead of trying for the around the horn double play, Flores went home. Kevin Plawecki made a terrific play picking up Flores’ short-hopped throw to tag out Arroyo, who just stopped running on the play. Salas followed this out by striking out Mike Morse to end the rally.
With Salas ending the rally, Milone was in position to earn his first win in a Mets uniform – a win he didn’t get. Milone was in that position because he helped his own cause. In the fourth, Milone hit an RBI single off Matt Cain to expand the Mets lead to 3-1. The single scored Curtis Granderson, who had a pretty good game himself.
It started with an opposite field double in the first inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. He also reached on a Buster Posey error to get the aforementioned rally started.
The other run was courtesy of Jay Bruce:
Cain threw Bruce a middle-middle changeup and Bruce took it for a ride. It landed deep in the bullpen. pic.twitter.com/5TYgdVGfyr
— CitiFieldHR (@CitiFieldHR) May 10, 2017
After losing one to the rainout, Bruce finally got his 10th home run back. The third inning homer also snapped a 1-1 tie. The game was tied because Posey hit yet another homer off the Mets.
The Mets had a chance to put the game away in the sixth. With a perfect Juan Lagares bunt down the third base line, the bases were loaded against Giants reliever George Kontos with one out. Kontos then recorded back-to-back strikeouts of Asdrubal Cabrera (pinch hitting for Salas) and Jose Reyes to keep it at 3-2.
The Mets similarly fizzled in the seventh. Bruce and Neil Walker hit back-to-back one out singles. Granderson popped up, and Flores lined out to kill that rally.
The Mets bullpen tried to keep it at 3-2. Josh Edgin (one batter) and Hansel Robles combined to pitch a scoreless seventh. This continues Robles’ 14 inning scoreless streak.
Addison Reed and Jerry Blevins pitched a scoreless eighth. Blevins came on with two outs in the eighth because Brandon Belt was announced as a pinch hitter. Blevins probably came on because Terry Collins was probably having a panic attack thinking about the possibility Blevins may not pitch in a game. He also completely disregarded Reed’s numbers against left-handed batters.
Reed career .236/.296/.353 off LHB. In 2016, LHB hit .210/.264/.269. Good thing Terry got him out of there.
— Mets Daddy (@MetsDaddy2013) May 10, 2017
The Mets would rue the town blown opportunities to tack on runs as Jeurys Familia blew his first save of the season.
Ironically, it wasn’t Conor Gillaspie who got to him. In fact, Familia dispatched with him easily. In fact, it was Flores who got to Familia. After Joe Panik walked, Flores threw off line to second. Instead of an inning ending double play, there were runners on first and second. Hunter Pence singled past a diving Flores to tie the game at 3-3. Posey then walked, and Arroyo hit a bases clearing double to make it 6-3.
At that point, Rafael Montero came into the game. Note, he didn’t make his way into a 6-1 game, but today, he relieved Familia. Because he has a sick sense of humor, Montero recorded two quick outs to get out of the inning.
Flores redeemed himself a bit in the ninth. After the Mets put two on with two outs in the ninth, he came up. Flores hit one that deflected just off Ruggiano’s glove and the top of the wall. It made it 6-5, but it was too little too late. Kevin Plawecki grounded out to the catcher ending the game.
The winning streak is over, and the Mets fell to a game under .500.
Game Notes: Michael Conforto sat with a hamstring issue. With Bruce in right and Juan Lagares in center, Granderson played left. With Conforto sitting, Reyes returned to the lead-off spot.
The Mets were up 6-1 in the eighth inning against a San Francisco Giants offense that showed no life all game long. This could be a function of the fact the Giants have scored the fewest amount of runs in the National League. In essence, with the Mets up by five runs, the game was over.
Not according to Terry Collins. He managed the game like it was a one run game in the seventh game of the World Series.
Hansel Robles pitched a scoreless seventh lowering his ERA to 1.47. With his being a reliever accustomed to pitching multiple innings, it was justifiable to send him out there to pitch the eighth. He opened the inning by hitting Justin Ruggiano.
This led to Collins lifting him for Jerry Blevins. Even with the left-handed Joe Panik and Brandon Belt coming up, this was completely unnecessary. The Mets were up five runs. You don’t need to start playing matchups late in the game. This was a chance to rest Blevins who is on pace for 96 appearance. Furthermore, left-handed batters are 1-19 against Robles this year.
This isn’t a one year fluke with Robles either. In his career, Robles has limited left-handed batters to a .164/.255/.304 batting line. That’s better than the .210/.262/.314 Blevins has allowed in his career. There’s no need to go to a lefty in that spot.
Once Blevins came in and did his job, there was no need to take him out. He needed just six pitches to get Panik and Belt out. He’s been much better against right-handed batters since joining the Mets. He very well could have pitched to Hunter Pence. Instead Collins went to Addison Reed.
With Reed coming into the game, he’s now on pace to make 81 appearances. That would top his career high in appearances which he set last year. As if using Robles, Blevins, and Reed wasn’t enough, Jeurys Familia came in to close the ninth.
Collins did that despite Blevins, Reed, and Familia having pitched on Monday. He did this despite knowing Tommy Milone was starting tomorrow.
Milone was picked up off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers. Milone was available because he had a 6.43 ERA in six games this season. In his three starts, he’s averaging under five innings per start. Chances are the Mets are going to need to heavily rely on their bullpen in a day game after a night game.
Certainly, it’s too soon to pitch Paul Sewald after 3.1 innings on Sunday. To that end, he shouldn’t be available tomorrow. Fernando Salas needed a day off after pitching in seven of the last nine days.
This is all the more reason you let Robles finish that eighth inning. Then with a five run lead the Mets can pitch Rafael Montero in the ninth inning now that he’s once again out of the rotation.
Doing this keeps the key bullpen arms fresh for when the team really needs them. Instead, Collins burned the arms with a five run lead against the worst offensive team in the National League. This is how bullpens get burned out. This is why key bullpen arms aren’t as effective later in the season when they’re needed the most.
It started early for the Mets. Steven Matz was injured before Opening Day, and the Mets again wondering what is really wrong with him. Seth Lugo pitched in the World Baseball Classic, partially tore his UCL, and he is going to try to rehab it rather than having Tommy John surgery. Indirectly, this led to Rafael Montero pitching like, well, Montero. It also led to a less than inspiring performance by Adam Wilk.
Noah Syndergaard is gone for an extended period of time with a torn lat. Matt Harvey has been suspended three games for failing to show up at the ballpark. Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda have not played in a few weeks, and there are just rumors that they are soon to return. Travis d’Arnaud is yet again on the disabled list himself, and as usual we are unaware when he can return. Once again, Asdrubal Cabrera has been hobbled in the early part of the season leading everyone to wonder when the Mets finally put him on the disabled list.
Jeurys Familia was suspended for the first few weeks of the season, and he was not sharp immediately upon his return. Addison Reed struggled in his adaption to closer and again in his transition to the eighth inning reliever. Fernando Salas just struggled, and Josh Smoker has probably struggled more than Reed and Salas combined.
Jose Reyes was hitting .095 midway through April. Curtis Granderson entered the month hitting just .128. Neil Walker is under the Mendoza Line against right-handed pitching, and he entered the month of May hitting just .195. Wilmer Flores cannot his right-handed pitching. Juan Lagares can’t hit any pitching.
The end result was the Mets losing six in a row and 10 of 11. Already, people were starting to wonder if this team was similar to the 1992 or the 2009 Mets teams. Despite all of this, the Mets are back at .500 and second place in the National League East. How did it happen?
Well, for starters young and under utilized players have stepped up. Michael Conforto went from the bench to one of the best hitters in baseball. For the second straight season, T.J. Rivera has taken complete advantage of an unexpected opportunity being given to him. Josh Edgin has become a dominant LOOGY in the bullpen. We have even seen Paul Sewald step up pitching terrifically after some initial hiccups.
Then there are the veterans who have had career best seasons so far. Jay Bruce is on base to put up career best numbers in every offensive category. Jerry Blevins has been used almost every game, and he is putting up better numbers than he did last year’s career best season for him. Rene Rivera is hitting over .300. Hansel Robles is 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 16 appearances.
More than there, the Mets have exhibited some professional pride. Reyes is hitting .282/.341/.564 with three doubles, a triple, two homers, nine RBI and a stolen base over his last 10 games. Granderson has hit .250/.368/.625 with three doubles, a homer, and four RBI over his last five games. Walker has hit .276/.364/.414 with four doubles and four RBI in the month of May.
In addition, the bullpen has been much better of late. Familia has had five straight scoreless outings. Reed has allowed just two hits with no runs in the month of May. Terry Collins has been more judicious in his use of Salas, and Salas has not allowed any runs in his last five appearances. With Blevins, Edgin, and Robles continuing their outstanding seasons, this has become the dominant bullpen everyone envisioned it would be to start the year.
With the combination of the resurgent veterans and the outstanding young player, the Mets are winning again. In the month of May, the Mets lead the majors in runs scored. They are fifth in the National League in homers. However, unlike last year, the Mets do not need homers to score runs. The Mets .320 team batting average and .517 slugging with runners in scoring position is second best in the majors, and its .419 OBP with runners in scoring position is the best in baseball.
Despite all the noise around the Mets, this team is playing its best baseball of the season. Once their pitching gets relatively healthy, and their current pitchers pitch close to their true talent levels, this team will once again be one of the best teams in all of baseball. Until then, this current group of Mets will make sure the Washington Nationals will be within shouting distance allowing the Mets to compete for the division.
It doesn’t matter how poorly the Giants are playing this season. If Zack Wheeler is going to pitch like he did tonight, he is going to beat even the best offensive teams.
Through six innings, Wheeler allowed just two hits and one run. The only issue was the four walks, but with the stuff he had there was no way the Giants were capitalizing. His slider was sharp, and he was getting his fastball up to 98 MPH. The only damage against him was a Buster Posey fourth inning solo homer.
By the time Posey hit that homer, the game was effectively over. The resurgent Mets offense jumped all over Jeff Samardzija.
In the first, Eduardo Nunez misplayed a Neil Walker ball into a two RBI “triple.” The ball was likely going to land and score one run, but it was not a triple.
Jose Reyes singled home Walker, and Rene Rivera doubled him home. Just like that it was 4-0.
In the second, back-to-back doubles by Michael Conforto and T.J. Rivera made it 5-0. In the seventh, Conforto put the final nail in the coffin hitting a solo home run to left-center field.
Now, despite having a 6-1 lead in a May game against a terrible offense, Terry Collins managed the eighth inning like it was the eighth inning in the seventh game of the World Series.
After a scoreless seventh, Collins let Hansel Robles start the eighth. After Robles hit Justin Ruggiano, Collins brought in Jerry Blevins to pitch to the left-handed hitters Joe Panik and Brandon Belt. Collins went to Blevins despite him being used way too frequently early this season despite the score being 6-1, and despite left-handed hitters hitting just 1-19 off Robles.
After Blevins got the two lefties, Collins went to Addison Reed to face Hunter Pence because of a little known MLB rule that if Pence hits a home run in Citi Field in the eighth inning of a game played on May 9th with the Giants down by five runs, the home run counts for 10 runs.
This ladies and gentleman is why Collins has stuck around long enough to pass Bobby Valentine for the second most games managed in Mets history.
Naturally, given how close this 6-1 game was Collins went to Jeurys Familia to close it out in the ninth. Somehow, the official scorer did not give Familia a save for this one. In any event, thanks to Collins pulling out all the stops, the Mets are back to .500.
Game Notes: Josh Smoker was sent down before the game to make room for Matt Harvey whose suspension just ended. Rafael Montero remains on the roster.