They had wriggled out of another testy ninth inning, Frankie Rodriguez coaxing Adam LaRoche to roll one out to the grass in short right field, where the kid, Ruben Tejada, was waiting for it. Another tying run was stranded on base, only 90 feet away and, sure, maybe the Mets had gotten an umpire’s call (or two) to go their way.
Really, is anyone going to fault them the odd good break here or there?
“We’re playing good baseball,” manager Terry Collins had said, “and when you play good baseball, a lot of times things tend to take care of themselves.”
They are playing good baseball, as good as they’ve played it in any number of years, and at some point it’s probably a wise move to stop waiting for Collins to lose his patience and overturn a buffet table — as the advance scouting reports all hinted would happen inevitably — and realize that he is doing a hell of a job managing this baseball team.
The Subway Series beckons, and the Mets are within a game of .500 for the first time since the Knicks still harbored hopes of accomplishing something in the NBA playoffs. They are 21-22 heading across the Triborough, and the last time they were this close to sea level was exactly 40 days ago.
“Considering where we were,” catcher Josh Thole said when this 1-0 win over the Nationals was official, “you have to be pretty happy where we are.”
Added Daniel Murphy: “You have to get to .500 before you can be five games over .500, or 10 games over .500, and you can’t be satisfied with any of that.”
A few weeks ago, it seemed like this might be the year when the Subway Series officially became an ugly mismatch and an uglier mish-mosh. The Yankees had been as high as eight games over .500 and rolling, and seemed poised to lap the rest of the AL East with the Red Sox and the Rays toiling in the muck; the Mets were as low as eight games under .500 and reeling, and it seemed entirely possible the team could be buried by now.
That hasn’t happened. Collins hasn’t let that happen. From the start, he’s been a target, first by fans who wanted Wally Backman and weren’t going to be happy with anyone else, later by certain members of the baseball cognoscenti who didn’t like his gravitas (or lack thereof), didn’t think he’d have the stomach or the personality for precisely the kind of pitfalls and pratfalls that have swallowed the Mets.
Sports Illustrated even took an unfair shot at Collins this week, referring to unidentified misadventures he’s had with his bullpen and his batting order, a cheap rip that seemed mostly designed to allow it a chance to use “Harper-Collins” in its hot-not listing, so it could have someone opposite Bryce Harper. Never let the truth get in the way of something clever.
But it’s hard to look at the job Collins has done through 43 games and not come away impressed. The Mets have had the same run of luck that befell them the past few years with injuries, yet they’re now 5-2 without Ike Davis and 2-1 without David Wright.
Two days running, Collins showed faith in young pitchers, allowing Jon Niese to finish the seventh inning Wednesday despite a bases-loaded jam, allowing Dillon Gee yesterday to get pinch-hitter Matt Stairs out in the eighth with the tying and go-ahead runs on base.
And he has done all this with a minimum of backlash. His opposite number this weekend, Joe Girardi, hasn’t enjoyed that since his first week on the job back in 2008. In the last week alone he has come under fire for hitting Jorge Posada (an old rival for playing time back in the day) ninth, for his usual bullpen choices. There was even an absurd Twitterverse revolution Wednesday when he brought in Mariano Rivera — MARIANO RIVERA! — to relieve Bartolo Colon.
So you won’t fly under anyone’s radar as a manager in this city. Collins knows that. And for 43 games he hasn’t needed the cover. He brings his team to the Subway Series this weekend staring at .500 and believing in itself. Not a bad place to be.
michael.vaccaro@nypost.com
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