Game Recaps

Scott Hairston Hits for Cycle, Mets Lose Slugfest

It was a crazy night at Coors Field on Friday. Scott Hairston hit for the cycle, but the Mets were done in by one of the worst innings you’ll ever see. Oh, and they committed six, count ’em, six errors.

chrisThe Mets set the tone for the night by scoring on an odd play in the first inning. With Kirk Nieuwenhuis on third and David Wright on first with two outs, Wright got picked off. But the Rockies botched the rundown, and Nieuwenhuis sprinted home without even a throw.

But Chris Schwinden (left), making the start in place of Mike Pelfrey, gave it right back in the bottom of the first. Marco Scutaro led off with a triple and would score on a ground out. Then Troy Tulowitzki hit a solo home run to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.

Hairston answered back in the fourth with a solo shot of his own to tie the score at two.

The Mets attempted to break the game open in the fifth. Hairston tripled to score Ruben Tejada to break the tie. Lucas Duda, Zach Lutz, Mike Nickeas and Schwinden each followed with singles as the Mets plated four runs to extend the lead to 6-2.

But then came the bottom of the fifth — the worst inning for the Mets in some time, maybe ever.

Eric Young, Jr. led off the inning with a tapper back to Schwinden. Instead of assuming an easy out, Young busted down the line. It paid off because Schwinden threw the ball high to first base. Lutz may or may not have tagged him, but Young was ruled safe. Young then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error on Nickeas.

Schwinden walked the next batter, and the next one singled to make it 6-3. Carlos Gonzalez followed with an absolute bomb to center to tie the score at six.

That ended Schwinden’s night, but not the Rockies rally. Manny Acosta promptly allowed two hits and a walk, and then a fielder’s choice made it 7-6. But hey, at least the Rockies made an out. However that tiny victory was short-lived — Dexter Fowler smashed a three-run homer to right to make it 10-6.

But incredibly there was more to come. Acosta allowed a walk, a single, and then hit a batter to load the bases. Up stepped Gonzalez again, who singled to right to clear the bases, making it 13-6. The last run scored on a throwing error by Lutz.

Acosta was finally mercifully pulled and Miguel Batista came on to stop the carnage. In all the Rockies scored 11 runs and the Mets committed four errors in the hellish inning.

The Mets tried to come back. In the top of the sixth, Hairston completed his cycle with a two-run double to cut the lead to 13-8. Hairston came around to score on a Duda single to make it 13-9.

But in the seventh the Rockies added five runs, including a grand slam by Ramon Hernandez to make it 18-9.

That would be the final score — as horrendous a loss as you could imagine.


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