Terry Collins declined to openly criticize his bosses with the New York Mets on Wednesday.

The Mets have lost seven straight games as Collins manages a roster littered with fringe Major Leaguers because of front-office inaction in acquiring serviceable stopgaps.

"I don't blame anybody. I've never done that. I never will," Collins said. "I'm not going to point any fingers. These are the guys that are here. They're major league players. We've got to play better. As I've said, I write the lineup. It falls on my shoulders. It doesn't fall on anybody else's. I'm the one who puts them out there.

"My coaches do, in my opinion, an outstanding job of pregame preparation. Our team meetings, our scouting meetings, are outstanding. They're very thorough. My pitching coach does a tremendous job of getting a game plan together. We're not hitting. End of story. That's pretty much it. We've got to start hitting."