Rockies offense runs away from Mets for fourth straight win

DENVER – Well, it’s all a bit too late but it can’t be denied that the Colorado Rockies are playing solid fundamental baseball right now.

After taking a series from the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals and sweeping division rival San Diego Padres, the Rockies took the first game of a set against the Wild Card hopeful New York Mets.

Starting pitcher Antonio Senzatela did his best to keep the winning streak alive. Though he was hit hard all evening, he mostly kept the ball on the ground and was able to put together a second straight quality outing, putting his team in position to win.

The offense remained hot, getting contributions up and down the lineup as every position player starter recorded at least one hit.

Garrett Hampson had a particularly interesting evening, matching his career-high three hits; he’s done this three times in his young career and all three have come in the last week.

He didn’t hit the ball hard with exit velocities of 62, 65, and 69 MPH; however, his speed forced some defensive miscues and helped add a much-needed dynamism to the Rockies attack.

The scoring got started, as it so often has at Coors this year, in the first inning and with the first batter, Brandon Nimmo, who lofted a solo home run into the front row in left field. Had the look of a 2019 home run.

The Rockies tied it up in the bottom of the second on a solo homer of their own, a hard hit line drive off the bat of Ian Desmond who clobbered a breaking ball hanging in the very middle of the zone.

The Mets went back on top in the third thanks to a two-run jack from Jeff McNeil who hit a no-doubter into the second deck in right. They added another in the fifth on a single from Pete Alonso and a double by Amed Rosario.

Colorado erased it all with a massive six-run onslaught in the bottom of the fourth.

Charlie Blackmon started it with a one-out single up the middle. Ryan McMahon walked and Desmond made the second out on a liner, leaving it up to Garrett Hampson to keep the threat alive.

He battled and managed to loop a jam-shot single into right field, scoring Blackmon. Drew Butera was worked around to load the bases for Senzatela with two away.

Senza, 0-for-36 on the season, surprised everyone by hitting a solid line drive into left field for his first hit of the season, bringing in a pair to tie the game.

Trevor Story then turned the frustrating sequence of events for the Mets into a nightmare one when he blasted a 1-1 pitch way out into the left field bleachers for his 33rd home run of the season. By the time the majestic shot landed 401 feet away, Colorado was ahead 7-4.

The scoring dried up through the middle innings as Senzatela finished strong and both James Pazos and Carlos Estevez looked good in relief.

The Rockies added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth to make it a 9-4 contest.

Jairo Diaz walked the first batter of the ninth, pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie, on four pitches and surrendered a soft single to center to Rene Rivera. He bounced back to strike out Nimmo and got McNeil to roll one over to first, not quite hard enough for the Rox to turn two.

With little stress or trouble, Diaz got Michael Conforto to fly out to left to end the game.

The Mets’ loss and Cubs’ win Monday night dropped New York to five games out of the NL Wild Card race.