MILWAUKEE — Terry Collins was to remain overnight in a local hospital Sunday after an undisclosed health scare kept him from managing the Mets against the Brewers.
The departure of the popular manager from Miller Park about 30 minutes before game time was just the start of a bad day for the Mets, who lost 5-3 to split a four-game series with the Brewers and complete a .500 10-game road trip.
Collins, 67, underwent testing at Froedtert Hospital, where a decision was reached to keep him overnight for further evaluation, according to assistant general manager John Ricco. Collins was accompanied by trainer Ray Ramirez at the hospital.
“They were watching the game,” Ricco said after the Mets’ second straight loss. “[Collins] was probably a bit agitated. Other than that he was feeling fine.”
Bench coach Dick Scott, who took the reins in Collins’ absence, gathered the Mets before the game to brief them on the situation. Scott said Collins felt “fine” before leaving for the hospital, but indicated the Mets wanted to take every precaution. Ricco said there was no singular event that transpired with Collins that might have rattled players before the game; Collins left the clubhouse under his own power after he was persuaded by team medical personnel to receive further evaluation.
“I saw him walking and talking and asking for some stuff when he was getting escorted out,” Curtis Granderson said.
On the field, the Mets committed three early errors and fell into a 3-0 hole after two innings. Scott was asked if Collins’ departure to the hospital contributed to the team’s early sluggish play.
“The guys are human, it may have,” Scott said. “But the other side of that is the guys are very professional and we could have, after early in the game phoned the game in, but we continued to play, we have the tying run at the plate. I just think guys are human and we care about the manager and that was on everybody’s mind, because it was so close to the beginning of the game.”
Steven Matz (7-3) had his shakiest start since his season debut, allowing five runs — one of which was unearned — on nine hits over six innings to receive his second straight loss.
Defensively, the Mets tied a season-high with three errors, and the lineup was muted against Brewers starter Zach Davies (5-3) before showing a brief revival in the late innings.
Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes each delivered scoring hits in the eighth, but the Mets’ comeback hopes ended there.
Neil Walker (back) and Michael Conforto (wrist) were on the bench and Asdrubal Cabrera’s scheduled day off left the Mets with a skeleton lineup that managed only one hit through six innings.
Jonathan Lucroy smashed a two-out RBI double in the fifth that extended the Brewers’ lead to 5-0. The messy inning began with the Mets’ third error of the game, but both runs in the frame were earned.
Wilmer Flores made an errant throw to first on Jonathan Villar’s bunt — ruled a single with the bad throw allowing the lead runner to reach third — putting runners on the corners before Ryan Braun’s sacrifice fly put the Brewers ahead 4-0.
Matz’s throwing error was the big play in the Brewers’ three-run second inning that put the Mets in a 3-0 hole.
Granderson downplayed the notion Collins’ departure for the hospital affected the team’s play.
“I think if anything, a 10-day road trip, coming to the end of it, was more of a cause to that than anything,” Granderson said. “But they put pressure on us.”