Collins: Mets 'A Little Flat' After Brutal Trip To Face Cubs
CHICAGO (WFAN/AP) — Manager Terry Collins wasn't surprised by the Mets' performance after they arrived in Chicago early Monday morning following an intense three-game series against the Yankees.
Joe Mather homered and Travis Wood outpitched Johan Santana, leading the Cubs to a 6-1 victory over the sloppy Mets on Monday night.
The Cubs scored four unearned runs in the seventh inning with help from three Mets errors, including three-base miscues by third baseman David Wright and right fielder Lucas Duda.
"We were a little flat," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "The fact that they got about probably five or six hours of sleep didn't help."
LISTEN: Collins on Monday night's letdown
Santana (5-4), a two-time Cy Young winner, gave up five hits and two runs over six innings. He struck out six and walked three.
"I knew they had a tough night (but) I was fine," said Santana, who flew to Chicago ahead of the team. "Just waiting and hoping to do my job and help them. But it didn't work out. It came down to a couple of pitches that changed the whole ballgame for me."
Before the game, Collins described his team's trip to Chicago as "absolutely brutal."
"That's a very small percentage of what went wrong today," said Wright. "It obviously doesn't help when you land at 3:30, four in the morning, but it's mainly that they played a lot better than us."
Wood (2-3) struck out six and scattered five hits over seven scoreless innings to earn his second straight victory. The 25-year-old lefty has given up just eight runs in 31 2-3 innings this month. Four of those five starts came against former Cy Young winners.
Mather hit a two-run shot over the left-center field wall off Santana after a two-out walk to Geovany Soto. The Wrigley Field wind played a big role in Chicago's four-run seventh as a pair of popups each turned into three-base errors.
Pinch-hitter Adrian Cardenas led off with a high pop in front of home plate. Catcher Mike Nickeas yielded to Wright, who fumbled the ball toward the backstop. Two batters later, Darwin Barney's bloop to right field was dropped and booted away by a running Lucas Duda.
It got even uglier when Ronny Cedeno misplayed Starlin Castro's grounder with the infield in, allowing Barney to score.
"Weird would be one would be one way to describe it," Collins said."I have another description for it that I can't say here ... (But) It's that kind of night. We don't make those mistakes. Unfortunately it came back tonight to haunt us."
New York mustered six hits and didn't score until Davis' home run off of James Russell with two outs in the ninth.
"I don't want a letdown right now," Collins said. "We've got to go in on a positive note. We've got to play well over the next 10 days."
Do you buy the travel excuse? Be heard in the comments below...
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