Terry Collins said that Wednesday's game was a must-win for the New York Mets just five months after they appeared in the World Series and a little more than a week into the season.

"The perception is there's no energy here, which is completely not true," Collins said after New York defeated Miami 2-1 to improve to 3-5 on the season. "That we're not prepared. That we're overconfident or we're not taking things seriously. I heard that [Tuesday] night, and it made me sick to my stomach.

"I said, 'We've got to win this game [Wednesday]. We've got to show people we mean business.'"

Collins used Jeurys Familia for a five-out save, even though Familia was pitching for a third straight day.

"We couldn't sacrifice another game," Collins said. "We had to win this game to get us going."