Mets Lose Wild Slugfest
The Mets bats finally woke up in Denver Saturday night, but starter Jenrry Mejia fell asleep, blowing a huge lead. The Mets were able to come back to tie the score and take the lead in the top of the ninth. However, the Rockies came back even more to win the game in the bottom of the inning.
With one out in the first Daniel Murphy tripled and came home when David Wright doubled. Chris Young walked and Curtis Granderson struck out for the second out. Anthony Recker, who always seems to be in the middle of things when he starts, singled to drive in Wright and move Chris Young to second. Lucas Duda then singled to score Young to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
They added three more in the third. Wright singled, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. Granderson singled to make it 4-0. He went to second on a wild pitch and scored when Recker doubled. Duda grounded out to move Recker to third. Ruben Tejada then hit a routine grounder to Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado at third. He bobbled it and threw it away, allowing Recker to score to make it 6-0.
And then it all came crashing down. Ryan Wheeler led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run off of Mejia. Okay, no problem, only 6-1. A single, a walk and a fielder’s choice left runners on second and third with one out. Charlie Blackmon singled to make it 6-2. Still okay. Drew Stubbs singled to make it 6-3. Now we’re concerned. Carlos Gonzalez singled to make it 6-4. Now it’s panic time, time to take Mejia out. But Terry Collins remained in the dugout. Mejia hit Troy Tulowitzki with a pitch to load the bases. Still Mejia stayed in. And you could predict the next event — Arenado hit a grand slam to give the Rockies an 8-6 lead. Only then did Collins remove Mejia; at least two batters too late.
Mejia went 4.1 innings, allowing eight runs on nine hits. His ERA now stands at 5.23, joining Zack Wheeler and Bartolo Colon with ERAs over five for the season after short, awful outings in the high altitude.
The Mets tied it up in the sixth. Chris Young doubled to score Daniel Murphy, who had also doubled himself, to make it 8-7. Granderson singled to bring home Chris Young to make it 8-8. Is Granderson starting to come around?
In his third inning of relief, Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed the tie-breaking run to score in the seventh on a couple of hits and a sacrifice fly; 9-8 Rockies.
But the Mets tied it up in the eighth. Murphy doubled again and Chris Young singled to make it a 9-9 game.
Pinch hitter Bobby Abreu doubled with one out in the ninth against old pal LaTroy Hawkins. Eric Young pinch ran for him, moving to third on a ground out. Juan Lagares came up with two outs; he singled to give the Mets a 10-9 lead. Murphy followed with his fourth hit on the night to put runners on first and third. Murphy stole second so Wright was intentionally walked to load the bases. Chris Young flew out to keep it a one run game.
Kyle Farnsworth came on for the save attempt in the bottom of the ninth. The red hot Tulowitzki, now hitting exactly .400 on the season, led off with a single. Arenado flew out to the warning track in center, deep enough for Tulowitzki to tag up and move to second. Pinch hitter Charlie Culberson homered to dead center to win the game for the Rockies.
Mets lose 11-10.