Mets again swept in doubleheader

ATLANTA -- The Mets haven't been this bad in a very, very long time.

Not under Jerry Manuel. Not under Willie Randolph. Not even during the dark days of Art Howe.

To appreciate this current state of awfulness, take a dip in the Hot Tub Time Machine back to 1982, which before Saturday's double-disaster was the last time the Mets dropped back-to-back doubleheaders.

In the first game, the Braves hit four solo homers in a 4-0 victory. Alex Gonzalez hit two and Chipper Jones and Freddie Freeman each hit one. It marked the first time Atlanta scored all of its runs on solo shots since 1998, also against the Mets.

As for Game 2, Mike Pelfrey allowed 11 hits in five-plus innings (although only one went for extra bases) in the Mets' 4-0 loss. They have dropped 10 of 11 and seven straight, their longest losing streak since they dropped 11 straight in 2004.

"There's more than one thing we need to do better," said David Wright, who was hitless (0-for-7) on the day. "You can't point the finger at the pitchers, you can't point the finger at the hitters. It's a combination. We're not really clicking."

When the whole unsightly mess was over, the door to the visitors' clubhouse remained shut for about 20 minutes, or 10 minutes longer than the mandatory cooling-off period.

Manager Terry Collins said there were no meetings this time, only some late-night shuffling to designate Pat Misch for assignment and call up Dillon Gee from Triple-A Buffalo for Sunday's start against the Braves.

Otherwise, what's to say? At 4-11, the Mets don't need someone to tell them they're terrible. Collins just did that Wednesday, and that really didn't help.

"They care, they're unhappy," Collins said. "We're going to get ready for tomorrow, try to come out of here with a win and go home and win six straight. Then this will all be forgotten -- for a while, anyway."

That's probably wishful thinking, and to even say this Mets team is capable of reeling off six straight sounds a little nuts. They had only two hits in the second game, their lowest total of the season, and barely touched Jair Jurrjens, just activated off the disabled list for the start.

Jurrjens faced the minimum through five innings -- Willie Harris singled in the second but was picked off -- and retired nine straight at one point.

The Mets did few things right all day, but the worst of it came in the sixth inning of Game 2 when Daniel Murphy sabotaged the only hope they had of clawing back into the game.

After his leadoff double, Murphy attempted to steal third with none out and easily was cut down. As soon as he reached the dugout, Collins took him into the tunnel for a private scolding.

"It was an awful play -- an awful play," Murphy said. "There was nothing that could have been going through my mind to justify that. I've got to be better than that. We had to string some runs together and I killed it."

"There's no question we're playing bad baseball," Wright said. "But when you mix in the kind of mental mistakes that we're making, that adds up to what you've been seeing the last week or so."