Collin McHugh, who was charged with seven runs in 1 1/3 innings in Tuesday's 10-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, likely is "out of gas," his manager believes.

Said Terry Collins: "You accumulate all the innings he has this year, pitching in September for the first time, I mean, his stuff is not as crisp as it was the first outing. His curveball, which is still a good pitch, is not as sharp as it was earlier."

McHugh tossed seven scoreless innings in his major league debut against the Colorado Rockies, but since has allowed 18 runs (15 earned) in 13 innings spanning five appearances (three starts) -- for a 10.38 ERA during that span.

"It's kind of a prolifically good first outing and then prolifically bad four outings after that. I'm not going to sugarcoat that. You'd like to go out on a high note, pitching well going into the offseason."