Mets Seek Rocky Mountain Redemption

Two weeks ago the Rockies left the Mets beaten and bewildered. They came into Citi Field, and swept the Mets in four straight games. The four game sweep capped off a dreadful home stand, one that saw the Mets go 1-6 as they opened their season in Citi Field. At the time, the Mets had come home having given their fans some hope with a few quality wins early on. But as Troy Tulowitzki stepped to the plate, the good taste turned sour.

Troy Tulowitzki absolutely obliterated Mets pitching, as he went 10-16 in the series. I remember it well as I attended the first game of the series. I turned to my brother as Tulo came up for his first at bat, and said “he has a few home runs, but he’s not hitting for an average yet”. Tulowitzki entered the four game series hitting .214, with 3 home runs and 6 RBI. As the series got under way, Tulo proceeded to treat Met pitching as though it was batting practice. He hit 4 home runs in the series, 1 in each game. He also had 8 RBI, including two 3 RBI games. When the series concluded, he had raised his batting average 150 points, doubled his home run total and had more RBI in the four game series then he had in his first nine games combined. He left Flushing hitting .364, with 7 home runs and 14 runs batted in.

To add insult to injury, the Mets held a lead in all four games of the series. In fact, they lead heading into the 5th inning in all four games. Four straight leads relinquished after leading into the 5th inning at home is just not going to cut it. But, that’s what happens when you play sloppy baseball, and your starting pitching doesn’t take you deep into games. Colorado did all of this with little or no help from Carlos Gonzalez who came into the series hitting .323, and left hitting .260. New York also did not have to face the Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez as he was on the DL at the time.

The Mets will have all of those things on their mind as the step off the plane into the thin Colorado air. The Mets have played better baseball in the last few days, and hope to have their bats come alive in Coors field. It would be nice to see David Wright break out from hitting in the .240’s, and give Tulowitzki a taste of his own medicine. It would also be nice to See Tulo take one under the chin at some point during this series, something no Met pitcher did a few weeks ago, as he trotted around the bases every game. It would be nice to see the Mets return the favor with a 3 game sweep of their own on Colorado’s turf. But, I’d settle for a 2-1 series win and one bean ball for Troy Tulowitzki.

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