TRIP FROM HELL
METS’ SKID AT 7 AFTER FINISHING 0-6 ON ROAD
PHOENIX — Like a tattered old baseball, day by day the Mets continue to come apart at the seams, one haunting stitch at a time. They lost their seventh straight game Wednesday in a crushing, but not unpredictable fashion, when Rafael Montero surrendered a walk-off home run to Chris Herrmann, the first batter Montero faced in the 11th inning at Chase Field as the Diamondbacks came away with the 5-4 victory and a sweep of the three-game series. Seventh hell in the desert. The Mets lost all six games on this trip, the last two by one run each. At 16-23, they are 10 games behind the Nationals in the loss column and it’s not yet Memorial Day. They have a day off Thursday, then face Mike Trout and the Angels over the weekend at Citi Field.
Soon after Herrmann’s drive sailed high over the wall in left-center Terry Collins offered the strongest of messages to his beleaguered team.
“It’s very easy to unravel right now and I will not let that happen here,’’ Collins said. “We are not going to do that. We are going to stay together, play together, get on the same end of the rope and pull together. I will not let this team get down. I will not do it.’’
That rope is a life preserver tossed into raging seas. How bad is it? The last time the Mets went winless on a road trip was a six-game trip in September 1999. Collins made this promise.
“We got back to .500 and we are going to do it again,’’ he said. “We’ve got to get healthy a little bit, but it’s too easy, losing can be as contagious as winning. We’re going to turn this around.’’
To back up his words, Collins, who often stays in his office after games, went into the clubhouse and ate with some of his players, checking the temperature with veterans like Jay Bruce and Addison Reed, who pitched two shutout innings in relief.
The bullpen was horrendous most of the trip and on Wednesday, Robert Gsellman, who was working out of the pen with the Mets having a few off-days over the next week, could not hold a onerun lead. Matt Harvey pitched the first 5 ¹/3 innings and offered some encouraging signs, but the Mets starters continue to not last long, taxing the weakened bullpen that is without Jeurys Familia.
The Mets have come to the point of no return so early in their season. Do well against the Angels and the Padres in this six-game homestand, turn this around immediately or else this will be a summer of pain for the Mets and their fans.
“I think we are ready for an off-day,’’ Harvey said. “Things happen in baseball, it just seems like everything is not going our way right now.’’
Jose Reyes said the Mets showed character last year to come back from despair to make it to the postseason and this team has the will do all that again. Still, huge mistakes are being made at the worst of times. If it’s not Lucas Duda throwing a ball away at home Tuesday night that cost a pivotal run it’s Reyes making a mindless base-running decision, running into the final out of the second inning Wednesday at second with a runner at third and Michael Conforto, who homered in his first at-bat, coming to the plate.
“I’m going to continue to communicate with these guys, I’m not going to put my head between my legs and feel sorry for myself, that doesn’t go here,’’ Collins said.
Collins met with the team in Milwaukee and told them, “You can’t feel sorry for yourself because no one else does. You’re big league players you’ve got to get ready to play. You’re a big league player, with that are expectations.’’
“You got to go execute and make adjustments,’’ Collins said of his philosophy. “If they belong here there are things that have to get done or we’ll find somebody else, and we’ll continue to do that.’’
Right now, this aging, tattered group is coming apart at the seams.