After Tuesday night’s 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, manager Terry Collins told reporters that the team has looked “tight” and “hit a wall” during their current homestand which has seen the team go 3-5. It will be the Mets’ first losing homestand of this season where they’ve played remarkably well at Citi Field.
“Coming into a homestand, we had a chance to make a huge impact with a very substantial lead, where nobody needed to be uptight,” Collins said. “We should have been quite relaxed with the lead we had. We should have been going out and playing the game nice and loosely and calm.”
However, the team’s captain David Wright, who homered last night and is batting .333 with a .975 OPS during this homestand disagreed with his manager.
“I don’t sense that anybody’s tight here or feeling the pressure,” Wright rebutted. “It’s playoff baseball, there’s going to be a little bit of pressure. We’re trying to make a push. I don’t sense it carrying over to the field.”
“We have to win series. We need to do a better job taking care of winning series, especially at home.”
The Mets continue to maintain their 6 1/2 game lead with just 11 games left to play this season and despite the loss, their magic number shrunk to six with upcoming series with the Reds and Phillies after tonight’s series finale with the Braves.
I’m not sure there’s anything to worry about here. We’re seeing a team that has grinded out over 150 games this season and some of the players may be feeling the effects of that just like all the other 29 MLB teams.
As soon as the Mets can clinch, which I believe will happen in Cincinnati, many of the regulars will get some well-earned rest to prepare for the NLDS against the Dodgers. For now, they’ll just have to chill out and finish the job. And that’s exactly what I believe they will do with David Wright leading the way.
