Car-Go was a one-man wrecking crew on Tuesday.
After losing the first game of their doubleheader with the Colorado Rockies 8-4, it looked as though the Mets might pull out a win in the finale after taking a commanding 8-1 lead through the top of the fifth. But it all fell apart as the blunders, errors and shoddy pitching saw the Rockies mount a shocking 10th inning 9-8 comeback victory to send the Mets reeling and gingerly walking back to the comfort of their warm and quiet clubhouse.
Mets reliever Greg Burke was called upon to pitch to the dangerous Carlos Gonzalez with two outs in the 10th and ended up walking the slugger to set the stage. Then Michael Cuddyer hits a sharp grounder that deflected off of the outstretched glove of David Wright at third base and into left field as Cargo hustled his way to third, to set up Jordan Pacheco‘s game-winning single. Originally scored an error on Wright, it was later changed to a hit after the game ended.
The Rockies tied the game in the eighth inning courtesy of two huge Mets errors. With two outs and nobody on, reliever Brandon Lyon booted a grounder back to him for an error, and then Ruben Tejada committed his sixth error of the season in 13 games played. In what should have been the third out, Tejada threw high and wide to first base, allowing two runs to score.
“I was freezing to death. It’s tough, tough to play in that weather but you have to play,” Tejada said. “It was a bad throw, a really bad throw. With that situation with the game on the line, it’s a really bad error.”
There weren’t many shining moments for the Mets in their twinbill sweep. Well maybe just one – and it came in the middle of the eighth inning of the second game, when Coors Field started playing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”, the Boston Red Sox anthem, in recognition of the tragedy at the Boston Marathon. It was a nice touch to an otherwise lackluster evening for the Amazins.
Manager Terry Collins refused to blame their disappointing sweep on the wintry conditions.
“I know our guys were freezing at the end of the game,” Terry Collins said late Tuesday, after the sweep. “Freezing. But they had to play. And they did the best they could. We lost two games. We had a chance to win the second game. It would have been a little easier to take. But I’m not going to use weather as an excuse.”
Post Game Notes
The Mets used seven relievers in the nightcap after Aaron Laffey lasted just four innings. Laffey has already been assured that he will start Saturday’s game against the Nationals in the next homestand.
The Mets took an 8-2 in the second game thanks to a five-run fifth in which they sent eleven batters to the plate. Marlon Byrd drove in two with a single, while Justin Turner, Tejada and pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin also added RBI hits.
David Wright homered twice for the Mets in the first game while walking twice in the nightcap. He scored a combined four runs and drove in three on the day. Collin Cowgill had a three hit game in the nightcap to raise his average to .199.
Justin Turner continues to make the most of his opportunities and with two more hits his average now stands at .450 for the season. he also drove in a pair.
Lucas Duda’s back tightened up on him again and he was pulled from the second game in the fifth inning. He later minimized the issue and vowed to be back in the lineup today. We’ll see.
Mets pitching allowed 17 runs on 25 hits and walked 11 batters. The backend of the rotation and the bullpen is starting to become a huge concern.
The Mets will likely makes some roster moves before their homestand which begins on Friday. Expect to see Omar Quintanilla get called up and Kirk Nieuwenhuis demoted, and possibly a couple of pitching moves as Shaun Marcum and Pedro Feliciano are about ready to return.
