Most of my guys had other plans tonight which means you’ll have to put up with me in this not-so-happy recap.
The New York Mets were defeated by the Colorado Rockies by a score of 7-4 on Saturday night at Coors Field. It was the third straight loss for the Mets and this one drops them to third place in the NL East behind the first place Nationals and The second place Phillies.
Pitching:
It all came crashing down for right-hander Logan Verrett tonight at Coors Field where he was torched by the Colorado Rockies for seven runs – all earned – and couldn’t make it out of the third inning.
When the dust finally settled, Verrett allowed 10 hits, three walks and struck out none in his 2.2 innings of work. Most of the damage came in a five-run second inning that was aided by an atrocious call by the umps that resulted in Terry Collins being ejected.
Key Play: The home plate umpire called a foul ball on an obvious swinging strike three by Rockies catcher Tony Wolters. Taking advantage of the egregious call, Wolters crushed a bases loaded double to the wall to score two and made the score 5-1 at the time.
With bench coach Dick Scott now in charge, Hansel Robles relieved Verrett to end the third after getting Nolan Arenado to groundout to first.
Lefty Sean Gilmartin provided some great relief out of the pen, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out a pair. Kid’s been a Godsend since he was called up this week when the Mets placed Wilmer Flores on the DL.
Jim Henderson, who hadn’t pitched since Monday, came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and retired the side in order on ten pitches. Addison Reed pitched a clean seventh, and Antonio Bastardo tossed a scoreless eighth.
All in all, a great job by the Mets bullpen that combined to throw 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two singles and striking out four.
Offense:
The Mets got on the board when catcher Kevin Plawecki (Who else?) smacked an RBI-single in the second inning to score Lucas Duda who started the inning with a double. The Mets would strand two in that inning after Logan Verrett and Curtis Granderson struck out. Second baseman Neil Walker – who has been mired in a long slump – gave the Mets another run when he rocketed a solo homerun to leadoff the fourth.
Here come the Mets… After Yoenis Cespedes legged out a triple in the sixth, Lucas Duda followed with an opposite field double to plate another run and make the score 7-3. Neil Walker singled for his third hit of the night to put runners on first and third. Duda would come around to score a fourth run after Asdrubal Cabrera grounded into a double-play. Sorry Drubs, no RBI for you. That was all she wrote offensively for the Mets, who were 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Notes:
Terry Collins was ejected in the third for arguing a foul strike call. It was his first ejection of the season.
Yoenis Cespedes hit the ball hard all night, collecting a double and a triple, while Neil Walker and Lucas Duda showed signs they are heating up again, each with multi-hit nights.
The Phillies won again and they are now 14-3 in one-run games, the best mark in MLB. They are a surprising 22-15 and moved ahead of the Mets into second place in the NL East.
With tonight’s loss, the Mets will lose their first series since the season opening homestand against the Miami Marlins. That seems like such a long time ago.
On Deck:
The Mets will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday with RHP Jacob deGrom (3-1, 2.12) set to face RHP Tyler Chatwood (4-3, 3.09) for the Rockies it the 4:10 PM finale.
Then it’s back home to Citi Field where the Mets will host Daniel Murphy and the Washington Nationals for a critical three game series that begins on Tuesday.
