Matt Harvey has some explaining to do after missing workout

Excuse me, Matt Harvey, but there's still some explaining to do.

After missing a mandatory workout Tuesday, the Mets ace pitcher arrived at Citi Field and oozed remorse.

"I screwed up,'' he said three times. No argument there.

"There's nothing left to say,'' he added.

Think again, Ace.

After Harvey spoke to reporters but refused to answer questions, Mets manager Terry Collins said he still wasn't sure exactly what happened. Marc Carig of Newsday helped establish the apparent inconsistencies thanks to his interview with Collins.

At 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, Harvey called pitching coach Dan Warthen and said he was stuck in traffic.

At 2 p.m., as the team's workout was ending, Harvey showed up and told Collins he had lost track of time.

"I was doing this and that, I looked up and it was 1 o'clock,'' Collins recalled Harvey told him.

In short, Harvey's story adds up like 2 plus 3 equals 7.

Though he'll be fined, he still is scheduled to start Monday in Game 3 of the Mets' National League Division Series against the Dodgers. It's six days away, giving him ample time before he takes the mound to answer the lingering question.

When your teammates were participating in a mandatory workout, where in the heck were you?

Harvey should take a lesson from the Pascual Perez, the now-deceased pitcher who in 1982 arrived late to Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta for a start with the Braves. When asked what happened, he did not say he got stuck in traffic or lost track in time. No, he told the told truth.

Perez, always known as a bit loopy, reported that he had gotten lost on Interstate-285 that circles the perimeter Atlanta. Round and round and round he went, earning him the nickname "Perimeter Perez.''

"There's a big radio and the merengue music was real loud," he later told Sports Illustrated of the incident. "I forgot my wallet, so I have no money and no license. I pass around the city two times easy, but the car so hot I stop at a gas station.

"I ask for $10 worth, and the guy say, 'You Pascual Perez? People been waiting for you at the stadium." I'm 20 minutes away, he tell me. I feel like a heart attack. I think I get fired, maybe. Boss Torre say he fine me $100. I say, 'What you say, $100?' He smile, say, 'Ciento pesos.' I smile. Ciento pesos worth only 10 bucks."

In the name of Perimeter Perez, Matt Harvey, it's time to tell the truth.