PHOENIX -- The New York Mets picked things up after manager Terry Collins lit into them Thursday afternoon.
Maybe it is Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale's turn.
New York left-hander Steven Matz took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a 5-1 victory over San Diego on Sunday, marking the first time the Mets had won consecutive games before the All-Star break, July 6-7 against Miami and Washington.
After sweeping the Mets to draw Collins' ire early in the week, the Diamondbacks lost the final three contests of the six-game road trip in Boston by a combined score of 31-9. The Red Sox finished it off with a 16-2 victory over Zack Greinke on Sunday, as Mookie Betts had three homers - one off Greinke in each of the first two innings - and Dustin Pedroia had five hits.
"It was one of those days," Hale told reporters. "We've all been there. We've all been on the good side. We've all been on the bad side. It's a tough day. It's a tough day for the pitching staff. It's one of those days you deal with. That's our ace, our No. 1 guy. They got him. We win as a team, we lose as a team. Today was a tough one."
The Mets and Diamondbacks will begin a three-game series Monday at Arizona, a quick turnaround after the Tuesday-Thursday series in Citi Field last week.
Collins challenged the Mets' effort after they were outscored 17-5 in the series. Arizona trailed in only one of the 27 innings, that's when the Mets scored in the first inning of the series opener.
"I know one thing - there's got to be a passion to come and play," Collins told reporters after the Diamondbacks finished the sweep in a 9-0 shutout Thursday behind rookie right-hander Braden Shipley.
"You owe a responsibility to our fan base, the organization and yourself to respect this game to come out and grind it out. ... You're going to get beat and you're going to get beat bad sometimes. But you need to pick yourselves up and move on. ... Starting (Monday), we're going to get after it. And those who don't want to get after it, I will find somebody else who does, because in Las Vegas there's a whole clubhouse filled with guys who want to sit in this room."
Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray will face right-hander Bartolo Colon in the first game of the series Monday, a rematch of Arizona's 3-2, 12-inning victory last Wednesday and the next start for each. Ray gave up three hits with no walks in seven scoreless innings in that one. He did not walk a batter, a career first in games he had pitched into the seventh.
Colon gave up only one run, that coming after Jean Segura stole second base in the third inning, took third on a throwing error by the catcher and scored on Paul Goldschmidt's single.
Arizona stole 13 bases in 15 attempts in the series, tied for the third-most in the majors in a three-gamer series since the Diamondbacks began play in 1998. Only Miami (17, 2000) and Texas (14, 2010) had more.
The Diamondbacks got three quality starts in the Mets' series, the first time that had happened since they had four quality starts in a four-game sweep at Philadelphia from June 17-20.
Arizona starters gave up 23 runs (17 earned) in 8 2/3 innings against Boston, and left-hander Patrick Corbin was moved to the bullpen after giving up eight runs (four earned) Friday. Corbin (4-12) leads the majors in losses and earned runs (82) in his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery that cost him the 2014 season.
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