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Terry Collins' Mets were 12 games under .500 entering Tuesday's game against the Cardinals.

(John Munson/The Star-Ledger)

NEW YORK – Terry Collins’ tenure as manager of the Mets has not been successful by any stretch. The team finished in fourth place in each of his first two seasons.

But this season is a new low. After playing competitively through the All-Star break the first two years, the Mets found themselves 12 games under .500 entering Tuesday against the Cardinals, owners of the best record in the sport.

A fifth straight loss to the Marlins, their chief competition for worst team in baseball, resulted in an abrupt three-man purge of the roster. Since late last week, a fifth of the roster has turned over.

“I told the coaches today, at no time in the years we’ve been here (have we faced) a bigger challenge than we are right now because we’ve got a lot of season left,” said Collins, who is in the final year of his contract.

“We’ve got 100 games to play, 105 games. All we’ve got to do win 60 of them and see where we are and take our chances.”

Playing .600 baseball the remainder of the season is an unlikely scenario for a Mets club underperforming despite low expectations coming into the season. But Collins continues to motivate.

“I told the coaches, you’ve got to continue to push, you’ve got to continue to say the same thing that you did six years ago when he was in A-ball,” Collins said. “You got to because that’s the business here. The business here is repetition no matter what it is.”

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Collins said he does not know if Ike Davis, who was one of the three players demoted Sunday, will make significant changes to his batting stance and swing.

Davis’ habit of dropping his hands low as he steps to the mounds has been scrutinized.

“Do I think there’s going to be some tweaking happening? Yeah,” Collins said. “What it is I have the faintest idea. I know one thing, hitters, you’ve got to see the baseball. And he’s not seeing it and that’s what’s got to get changed. He’s got to keep his head back."

Davis started at first base and batted fourth for Las Vegas Tuesday night.

“I don’t care what anybody says mechanically, I don’t care about what anybody says where his hands need to be, he needs to keep his head behind a baseball and when he does that, he’s dangerous," Collins said.

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Collins said let-handed reliever Josh Edgin and outfielder Collin Cowgill, two of the three players promoted Sunday, made improvements in their minor league stints, though the numbers do not indicate much success.

Cowgill, Collins said, was laying off curveballs away, which was a problem for him when he was with the Mets earlier in the season.

Edgin, who pitched a scoreless inning Tuesday, said he reverted to throwing the ball harder, which he credited to fueling his climb to the major leagues. The left-handed reliever said he got away from the throwing with the same velocity because he “was thinking too much.”

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Shortstop Ruben Tejada ran today in Port St. Lucie, Fla. for the first time since he suffered a right quadriceps injury on May 29, a source told The Star-Ledger.

Tejada, who was the subject of demotion speculation, sustained the injury in the ninth inning against the Yankees. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list the next day.

Tejada was hitting a disappointing .209 at the time of his injury. His slugging percentage of .262 was the lowest among regulars in the majors.