Maybe if the Mets had gotten more hits like the one Taylor Teagarden delivered Tuesday, Terry Collins wouldn’t be having conversations with general manager Sandy Alderson about his job status.
Teagarden’s sixth-inning grand slam helped the Mets end a six-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over Milwaukee at Citi Field after Collins received a vote of confidence from Alderson.
It was the journeyman catcher’s Mets debut after being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to replace the demoted Travis d’Arnaud, and his opposite-field shot gave the Mets some much needed breathing room.
“He didn’t know he’s not supposed to get a hit,” Collins said with a laugh at the Mets’ issues hitting with the bases loaded this season.
Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched six solid innings to improve to 3-0, leaving only after taking a liner off his right leg to lead off the inning. He recovered to get Carlos Gomez at first, but the leg stiffened and he was removed.
The bullpen made the lead hold up and for a night, took some of the heat off of Collins. Alderson said he felt the need to talk to Collins because of all the rumors regarding his job security.
“Any time you lose a few games in a row, there’s talk of someone taking a fall,” Alderson said before the game. “That’s simply not the way to approach a long season. What the team needs to do and what we all need to do is focus on winning games, getting better and improving the young players.”
Matsuzaka, Teagarden and Daniel Murphy — who had a two-run homer — might not be the best examples of that, but the Mets will take the victory.
Clinging to a one-run lead, the Mets drew three walks in the sixth before Teagarden lined a 1-2 pitch just over the right-field fence off Milwaukee starter Marco Estrada (5-3).
Collins was pleased simply to have seen someone get a hit in that situation; the Mets had been 10-for-64 with the bases loaded this year.
“Just add-on runs,” Collins said. “It’s the thing we haven’t been able to do.”
Alderson said the only reason he tackled the issue was because of the “noise” surrounding Collins’ job security.
“Sometimes you have to address topics you wouldn’t otherwise [address], simply because all of the noise surrounding the situation,” Alderson said. “We were in a similar position seven or eight days ago and we won six out of seven. I’m not saying we will this time, but you have to take little bit longer view of things.”
The general manager pointed out the Mets entered Tuesday’s game 8-17 in one-run games and he’d “like to believe” that would even out.
“A lot of stuff has happened in the last week, but nothing so shocking or surprising,” Alderson said. “We lost some close games.”
Collins said he was unaffected by the rumors surrounding his job or by the conversation he had with Alderson after the Mets returned from their recent road trip.
“It’s part of the job,” Collins said. “It’s not going to change the way I come to the ballpark.”
On Tuesday, everything Collins did worked, from hitting Ruben Tejada leadoff, to starting Teagarden behind the plate.
“I was more focused on catching [Matsuzaka]” Teagarden said of his night. “But if I could get the monkey off our back [with the bases loaded], whatever it takes.”