NEW YORK _ Terry Collins was creeping up the ladder toward a postgame eruption, one clipped sentence at a time, but you didn't need any further evidence to gauge the manager's tightly-wound clock. The Mets were just three outs away from a series sweep of the Giants, a rolling thunder of momentum heading to Milwaukee for the weekend. But one look at Collins' face and his staccato delivery told you how badly those plans had just dissolved.
Jeurys Familia was burned for four runs in the ninth but it was the manager who was taking heat for having used his closer for the third straight game. Familia was weaponless on the mound, allowing five straight batters to reach base with one out, including Christian Arroyo's bases-loaded double that proved decisive in the Mets' 6-5 defeat.
The obvious question is whether Familia should've been out there, but the more critical discussion centered on Tuesday's 6-1 win over San Francisco, when Collins used Familia with a five-run lead. Reckless? Not really Collins said, and that's when the trial began.
"We had to win a game, I was worried about winning a game," he said tersely. "I didn't know what was going to happen (Wednesday). Tommy (starter Milone) hadn't pitched in 10 days."
That was Part One of Collins' defense, which boiled down to this key fact: the Mets were leaning on Milone, a journeyman left-hander, who'd been gathering rust ever since his release by the Brewers last week. The Mets had no idea if Milone could help them, but with Rafael Montero as Plan B, they closed their eyes and asked the fates for their charity.
Of course, this start could've _ and should've _ been stamped: property of Matt Harvey. But the Mets have decided the Dark Knight, contrite and embarrassed after a three-day suspension, will fare better against the Brewers than he would have against the Giants, arguably baseball's worst team in 2017. Go figure.
And if it was a hostile crowd the Mets were concerned about on Harvey's behalf, there were inordinate number of kids in the Citi stands, obviously enjoying school-sponsored field trips. Not exactly a beered-up mob that would've been ready to unload.
That's a discussion that will be resumed on Friday evening, not just by the Mets' family but most of the baseball industry. Everyone is curious about Harvey's next chapter and possible rebirth, assuming he's capable of it. Collins said the right-hander threw a problem-free bullpen on Wednesday; physically he's fie We'll know what's in Harvey's head soon enough.
But the fact that the Mets' rotation is so thin, and they had to trust a virtual ghost in Milone is what convinced Collins to go for the overkill on Tuesday. Fair enough. The Mets have just recently made it to .500 and couldn't afford to regress against the distressed Giants.
And that's what bolstered part two of the manager's reasoning in using Familia again in the series finale. The closer threw only five pitches on Monday, 10 on Tuesday and should've been fine on Wednesday.
And you know what? Collins was right. His anger was bubbling close to the surface because of the multiple chances the Mets had � and blew � to win the game. They stranded 11 base runners, and failed to score in the sixth, despite having the bases loaded and one out, and in the seventh, when they had runners on first and second with one out and came up empty again.
And then there was Wilmer Flores' two-run double in the bottom of the ninth, which almost cleared the wall in left-center. Another foot and it's a different narrative for the Mets and Collins.
Instead, the game came down to Familia and the thought-process that allowed Collins' second-guessers to wrap their tentacles around him and squeeze tight. But he wouldn't yield.
"(Familia) is a closer, he's used to coming back to back," Collins said. "That's what he's done for years and he had 51 saves last year. Look it up how many times he pitched three days in a row. That was not the issue. He didn't have his command."
What Collins politely overlooked was Flores's throwing error that doomed Familia in the top of the ninth. With one out and Joe Panik on first base, Eduardo Nunez' grounder to third was scooped up by Flores, who started what looked like a game-ending double play. But Flores admitted, "I didn't put myself in a good position to throw" to Neil Walker at second, pulling him off the bag. Everyone was safe and Familia was soon imploding, allowing Hunter Pence an RBI single, walking Buster Posey to load the bases before Arroyo's double went screaming to the wall in left-center.
It was a frustrating way to end the day, especially since the Mets were leading 3-2 and about to put the finishing touches on a nice turnaround. Despite losing Noah Syndergaard and having been without Yoenis Cespedes, and with Harvey's suspension serving as added baggage, the Mets had won 5-of-6 and 8-of-11. Dysfunctional as they've been, the Mets have indeed survived.
Instead, they were only five games out before the Nationals took the field against the Orioles, waiting on Cespedes, envisioning a turnaround by Harvey and projecting Steven Matz's return to the rotation before the end of the month. Life could be worse.
