ATLANTA _ Terry Collins often invokes the 24-hour rule. That's how much time he allows a player to sulk. The Mets manager tried following the edict on Monday, when the pain of the previous day was still fresh.
That's when the Mets watched Noah Syndergaard leave with a lat injury that later sent him to the disabled list, the first gut punch in a humiliating loss to the Nationals. So before the Mets began a four-game set against the Braves on Monday, Collins put on a new face and focused on surviving without their ace.
"Somebody's got to pick it up," Collins said, before the Mets beat the Braves, 7-5.
The Mets posted just a .387 winning percentage all-time at Turner Field. But they made good in their debut at that venue's replacement, SunTrust Park.
Michael Conforto hit a leadoff homer and later ripped a two-run single as part of the Mets' five-run fourth inning. He finished with three RBIs and upped his average to .333, a good sign as he carries a larger burden in the absence of Yoenis Cespedes.
Jose Reyes hit his third homer in his last five games, a solo shot in the eighth inning that came after he was robbed of two hits earlier in the game. The homer gave the Mets a critical insurance run and served as the latest sign that Reyes may be emerging from his horrendous slump to begin the season.
Starter Robert Gsellman won for the first time this season, though his ERA rose to 6.75 after he nearly squandered a big lead. He departed in the sixth with two on, nobody out and the Mets leading 6-3. The two runners he left would score and he was charged with five runs in five-plus innings.
But five relievers pitched four scoreless frames and protected the lead, with closer Jeurys Familia earning his second save. For the Mets (11-14), it was their third win in four games, with the only defeat coming in a 23-5 shellacking to the Nationals on Sunday.
The bounceback came after that embarrassment, and against the Braves' Julio Teheran, who entered the game 4-0 with an 0.91 ERA in his last seven starts against the Mets. The latest had come last Wednesday, an 8-2 Braves victory at Citi Field in which the righty allowed just two runs in 6 1/3 innings.
But even the Mets' great tormentor couldn't keep it going forever. The end of that dominance arrived on Monday night, lost in the flurry of a five-run fourth inning in which the Mets sent 10 men to the plate.
Neil Walker and T.J. Rivera delivered run-scoring hits. Reyes grounded out to knock in another run. And Conforto ripped a two-run single to right to give the Mets a 6-1 advantage.
It proved enough to cover for Gsellman, the 23-year-old righty who has looked nothing like the pitcher who bailed out an injury-riddled rotation late last year. He has instead been part of the problem, making it easy to question whether his star turn last year was merely a fluke.
In five starts this season, Gsellman has completed six innings just once. The rest of his outings have been slogs, littered with baserunners. Lately, he's also been lacking velocity.
"That was a shocker to us all," Collins said of Gsellman's last start, when cold weather seemed to sap him of the life on his fastball. "That's the first time we've seen it since he's pitched in the big leagues."
Satisfied that the issue did not signal a potential injury, the Mets turned to Gsellman. But even in the warmth of the South, his two-seamer still lingered in the low 90s, leaving it vulnerable when he was forced to challenge hitters.
In typical times, his rotation spot would be in danger. Clearly, these aren't typical times, with potential replacements such as Steven Matz and Seth Lugo still trying to work their way off the disabled list. So the Mets muddled on, leaning on their offense and an overworked bullpen to begin the process of moving on from another losing another big piece in Syndergaard.
