Rockies outslug Mets for second straight home win

For the Colorado Rockies, absolutely nothing has been easy lately. That was the case again on Wednesday night when the found themselves down early, and once again hanging on for dear life late, against the New York Mets.

Scoring 10 runs on the second straight night, the offense once again provided the firepower for Chad Bettis and the bullpen who just barely managed to keep the Rockies out in front for the 10-8 win.

The Mets got things started in the first when Asdrubal Cabrera managed a ground-rule double on an emergency hack against a well-located changeup then scored on a Michael Conforto single to right. After getting Todd Frazier to fly out, Bettis allowed a single to Dominic Smith and walked Wilmer Flores before surrendering a frustrating two-out double to Devin Meseraco to give New York an early 3-0 lead.

The Rockies got one back in the bottom of the first when Nolan Arenado smashed a hanging slider well over the wall in left for his 15th home run of the season.

The Mets kept it going in the second, getting a single from Brand Nimmo and another from Frazier to plate a fourth run.

Colorado tied it up in the bottom of the second, though. Trevor Story reached on a throwing error from Frazier and scored on a single to right field off the bat of Gerardo Parra. Ian Desmond followed with a walk and both runners were able to advance on a ball in the dirt. That gave Bettis a chance to help himself with a groundball to second that scored the Rockies third run and DJ LeMahieu came through with a two-out single to tie the game at four runs apiece.

After all that, the Rockies actually took the lead in the third after an Arenado single, a Carlos Gonzalez walk, and an RBI single from Parra. They added another on a two-out single from Tom Murphy to make it 6-4.

Then the Mets came right back in the fifth, chasing Bettis from the game with a triple from Smith, a sac fly from Flores, a single from Meseraco, and a double off the bat of Jose Reyes. Bettis then walked Jose Bautista to load the bases.

With the Rockies still up a run, Bud Black went to his bullpen, handing the ball to Chris Rusin who lost a battle with Brandon Nimmo, walking in the tying run. Cabrera then hit a grounder just out of the reach of Story at shortstop to score a pair of runs and give the Mets an 8-6 lead. After Rusin walked Conforto, Black turned to Bryan Shaw who got a groundout to short with the bases loaded to end the frame and keep the game in touch.

The Rockies took advantage of that right away in the bottom of the fifth when Desmond drew a two-out walk, Murphy followed with a single, and Ryan McMahon blasted the second home run of his career, a line drive over the high wall in right-center field to swing the score back in favor of his club by a score of 9-8.

The game was made 10-8 in the sixth on Charlie Blackmon’s 14th home run of the season, a towering shot well over the scoreboard in right.

Jake McGee came on to pitch the seventh and got a rare 1-2-3 inning in this game.

It was Adam Ottavino’s turn in the eighth and while he did give up a deep fly to right that went for an out and a single, he continued to be by far the Rockies most effective reliever in stamping down an otherwise drama-free inning.

Wade Davis was once again given the closing assignment and did give up a one-out single to Amed Rosario and a deep fly ball to Nimmo but got Cabrera to ground out to first, earning the 100th save of his career and securing the victory.

Colorado improved to 36-38, 13-20 at home and currently sit at fourth place in the NL West, 4.5 games back of first.

Final Stats:

Chad Bettis: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 5 BB, 4 K

Chris Rusin: 0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB

Bryan Shaw: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER

Harrison Musgrave: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB

Jake McGee: 1 IP, 1 K

Adam Ottavino: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K

Gerardo Parra: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI

Nolan Arenado: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI HR (15)

DJ LeMahieu: 2-for-4, 1 RBI

Ian Desmond: 0-for-1, 1 R, 3 BB

Tom Murphy: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI

Charlie Blackmon: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (14)

Ryan McMahon: 1-for-1, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (2)

Carlos Gonzalez: 1-for-3, 1 R

What’s Next:

The final game of the series takes place Thursday afternoon with the first pitch at 1:10 Mountain Time. Kyle Freeland will face off against Steven Matz.