Terry Collins Challenges Mets' Vets To Step Up After Sweep
CHICAGO (CBSNewYork/AP) — Just when the New York Mets appeared headed back to the win column, everything fell apart.
Dexter Fowler scored the tiebreaking run on a passed ball in the seventh inning and also homered, and the Chicago Cubs rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Mets 6-5 on Thursday.
Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Matt Szczur each had RBI hits as the Cubs recorded their first four-game sweep of New York since August 1992.
Mets manager Terry Collins said his team's issues, especially at the plate, have been "unbelievable, to be honest."
"That's why some of those big guys are out there," Collins said. "This is when they need to step up. This is when the Michael Cuddyers and the (Daniel) Murphys … need to step up to where all that leadership we talked about, this is the time we need it most."
Anthony Recker had a pair of solo home runs to pace the Mets, but the backup catcher's failure to hold onto a slider from reliever Hansel Robles in the seventh allowed the go-ahead run to score.
"This is when you need (leadership) most because we're young," Collins said. "We're very, very young right now. These guys are struggling a little bit and one of the things you'll see in a situation like this is where these guys think they're hurting the club, and we can't have that."
The Mets dropped to 20-15 with the loss, and their lead over Washington in the NL East has dwindled to 1.5 games. They've gone 7-12 since running off a franchise record-tying 11-game winning streak.
"Quit looking in the mirror and feeling sorry for yourself," Collins said. "You gotta stop that. We didn't win (11) games in a row by fluke. We went out and played good. We gotta go out and play good."
With runners at the corners and two outs, Robles' pitch just off the plate deflected off Recker's glove and rolled toward the first base dugout as Fowler scored easily.
"It's just frustrating to be a part of letting the winning run cross the plate on a play that obviously should have been made," Recker said. "and is usually made."
Pedro Strop (1-2) pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings for the win. Hector Rondon pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
Mets starter Jonathon Niese (3-3) allowed six runs — four earned — in 6 1-3 innings to take the loss.
Recker started the scoring with a solo shot in the second inning. Two innings later, Wilmer Flores and Recker had back-to-back drives for a 3-0 lead.
The Cubs got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on a solo homer by Fowler, but the Mets stretched the lead to 5-1 in the fifth inning on two-run single by John Mayberry Jr.
A four-run lead appeared safe the way Niese cruised through the first four innings, but the Cubs sent nine men to the plate in the bottom of the fifth and tied the score at 5.
"When we get down, nobody's panicking, nobody's saying, We can't do this,'" Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
Niese gave up four hits in the inning, but just two were hit hard and a throwing error by Flores at shortstop prolonged the inning and led to an unearned run. Bryant drove in the tying run with a bloop single to right field.
But for the Mets, the miscues only added to the frustration that comes with a four-game losing streak.
"Some days you get beat and you tip your hat and other days, you must make enough mistakes to lose games," Collins said. "Those are the ones that get you."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: CF Juan Lagares missed his third straight game with a strain of the upper right side, but is expected to return on Friday ... RHP Buddy Carlyle (back spasms) was placed on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to May 12).
Cubs: 2B Tommy La Stella (strained oblique) was sent to Double-A Tennessee on Thursday for a rehab assignment and will be in the lineup on Friday.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Bartolo Colon (6-1, 3.30) will attempt to become the majors first seven-game winner in the opener of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. RHP Kyle Lohse (2-4, 7.03) goes for the Brewers.
Cubs: The homestand continues with three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates. RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 4.65) still is looking for his first win of the season. He faces LHP Jeff Locke (2-2, 4.71) in the opener on Friday.
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