PHOENIX -- As the Mets waited on a bus to the airport following their seventh straight loss on Wednesday, Terry Collins wandered the Chase Field visiting clubhouse, offering his all-too-frequent rounds of damage control. Collins sidled up to Jay Bruce, cracking a joke. He waited for Matt Harvey to finish his media responsibilities, then gave the struggling starter a pat on the back. His office door remained open, as it usually is.
These are trying times for Collins, his Mets in an early-season funk for the third consecutive year. In each of the previous two, Collins managed to guide the Mets past it to the postseason.