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The Mets worked their way back to take the lead before finally falling to the Rockies 10-7 in game two of a three-game series from Colorado’s Coors Field.
Here are the takeaways…
1. Justin Verlander took the ball for the Mets on Saturday night. The veteran entered Coors Field with previous success to the tune of a 1.20 ERA. The righthander worked quickly in a first inning of eight pitches, retiring the first two batters on only three pitches.
An inning later, however, Colorado scribbled out for the first runs of the game throughout the series at bats. Nolan Jones plated Randal Grichuk on the third basehit of the inning. A batter later, Alan Trejo jabbed a double down the right field line to score another run. With the bases loaded, Charlie Blackmon dug out a slide on the inside half for another double and two more runs for the Rockies.
After another run came for the Rockies in the third inning, Verlander made an athletic play after a Trejo comebacker deflected off the pitcher’s shin to find and throw home the ball. Harold Castro. Verlander fought back to get through five innings with back-to-back scoreless frames.
2. Through the early frames, Pursue Anderson was just as good for Colorado. The righthander pitched early on contact for quick outs against New York. Francisco Alvarez briefly lit up the Mets with a double to right into center field and slid safely to third before the replay showed he slid off base as Ryan MacMahon kept the tag affixed. The Mets did get on the board in the fourth then Peter Alonso cracked the 20 home run plateau with a 415 shot to left field.
3. At that point, New York’s best chance came on a big inning in the following fifth Mark Kanha And Mark Vincentos reached to begin the inning. Anderson acted to force Alvarez to bail out. Nimmo struck out before Castro robbed Francisco Lindor of extra bases with a sliding into the gap to end the inning and strand the runners.
For the second consecutive inning in the sixth, two consecutive runners reached the Mets to start the frame. This time New York cashed in as Brett Baty delivered a runscoring double to center left to put runners on second and third base with no one out. Spree Marte followed with a groundout to score Alonso and cut the lead in half to 6-3. A single by Vientos later in the inning tied the score with Jack Bird to Colorado in relief for the second day in a row. In this at bat, Alvarez cashed in on his slide from earlier in the night when he destroyed a three-run home run to left field to tie the score. New York reversed an early 6-0 deficit. After the Rockies posted five runs in the second, the Mets rallied for a five-run frame of their own.
4. After a string of crucial at bats over several innings, Spree Marte put the Mets ahead through rain at Coors Field for the first time in the game with an RBI single to right to come home Jeff MacNeil.
As in the back-and-forth nature of Saturday’s game, the Rockies responded immediately at the bottom of the frame to a two-run home run from McMahon to the second deck in right field.
5. Justin Lawrence found a rhythm in relief and retired the Mets in order in the top of the eighth. The reliever came in with a 2.33 ERA as part of a bullpen that put Colorado 19-0 ahead after seven innings on Saturday. Jurickson Prof added an insurance run with an RBI triple, then scored on a single by Elias Diaz.
Pierre Johnson came on for the save and put the Mets down to close out the 10-7 win for Colorado.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets close out the three-game series in Colorado against the Rockies on Sunday afternoon. The first throw is scheduled for 3:10 PM
