The Metropolitans (60-52) defeated the Rockies (47-63) tonight by a final score of 4-2.
Jon Niese was hit hard at times tonight but limited the damage to just two runs through seven innings while earning the win moving him to 7-9 on the year.
The Mets didn’t manage more than a hit against Jon Gray, who was making his second big league start. Jose Reyes returned to Citi Field for the second time this season. This time, he wore purple instead of blue and promptly was picked-off in the first inning after reaching base. Welcome back Jose.
The Mets started the scoring in the 2nd inning when Travis d’Arnaud launched his first home run since returning from his most recent stint on the disabled list. It was a solo shot and a no doubter to left field. The empire struck back two innings later with who else but Carlos Gonzalez, who hit a missile to the opposite field for a two-run shot, his 26th of the year.
The Mets came close against Gray in the 5th. Jon Niese walked with two outs which was followed by an error by D.J. LeMahieu that allowed Ruben Tejada to reach as well. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position for Curtis Granderson who popped up in the infield to end the inning.
Gray was on a pitch limit so he was pulled after six and the Mets went to work agains the Rockies bullpen. They loaded the bases with two outs before the Rockies brought in the lefty veteran Boone Logan to face Granderson. Grandy worked a full-count before being hit by a hanging breaking-ball. With the bases still loaded, Daniel Murphy stepped up and didn’t waste any time, grounding a base hit through the left side past a diving Jose Reyes. That scored two more runs making it 4-2.
Tyler Clippard pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Jeurys Familia closed the door in the 9th to earn his 31st save of the season. More importantly, Familia looked good in the 9th tonight. Since the All-Star break, Familia has yet to flash the same dominance he showcased during the first half of the year. Tonight, he was lights out (other than a few hard sliders in the dirt).
The second game of this series will be tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. and will feature Matt Harvey (10-7) against Chris Rusin (3-4).
