Bats: Terry Collins Says Mets Need More Practice, and They Do

On a day when the bat boy makes the best defensive play of the game, it’s time for some extra defensive work. Late in the second game the bat boy down the right field line made a great catch of Daniel Murphy’s line drive foul ball, but that was the exception.

So, after the Mets made a string of bad plays in the outfield, Brad Emaus booted a ball at second base and Daniel Murphy almost collided with Jose Reyes at second base as Reyes tried to turn a double play, Manager Terry Collins said the Mets would address the defensive deficiencies that were on display in the Mets 1-6 home stand.

“We’re going to talk about it,” he said. “We’re going to address some things.”

He didn’t give many specifics, but he indicated extra fielding practice, which might begin during the upcoming three-game series in Atlanta, was warranted, and no one could rightly disagree.

“The object is to prepare yourself better, and that’s my job,” he said, “and as we go into Atlanta we’ll execute some things better and we’ll continue to breed some confidence and some positive attitude around here and we’ll start winning some games.”

Among the costliest gaffes of the day was Scott Hairston’s inability to catch a ball hit by Jose Morales in the first game. As Hairston went back, he stopped well before the wall, thinking he was going to run into it, and the ball landed on the warning track for a two-run double.

It was Hairston’s first game in right field at Citi Field, where the dimensions can be treacherous, but he took full responsibility.

“I misread it,” Hairston said. “I have to keep running after it, and possibly even run into the wall if I have to. I have to catch that ball.”

The Mets were swept in the doubleheader, 6-5, in the first game, and 9-4, in the finale. It concluded a four-game sweep by the Rockies, the first in a four-game series by a visitor since the Marlins did it Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, 2004.