The Colorado Rockies' (18-13) offense continued on its torrid pace through Major League baseball as they pounded starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (1-2, 3.99) and the New York Mets (15-13), 10-3, to take the first two games of the four-game series at Coors Field.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R H E | |
| Mets | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 9 1 |
| Rockies | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | x | 10 13 0 |
W: De La Rosa (3-3) L: Wheeler (1-2)
The Rockies offense has scored 96 runs (174 total) in 13 games at Coors Field this season. They are also batting a major league leading .346 at home with 23 home runs. The top two hitters in the Major Leagues, Troy Tulowitzki (.385) and Charlie Blackmon (.380) went a combined 6-9 with one home run, and five RBI's for the Rockies.
"Everybody in that lineup, one through nine, if there's somebody coming off the bench, those guys swing it well," said Mets' right fielder Curtis Granderson as he discussed the Rockies home field dominance. "You look at the leaderboards before the game and you see two or three or four of their guys up there in multiple categories.
"One of the most amazing things that I saw was their averages here in this ballpark. Obviously, they're comfortable here and they do an amazing job of feeding off each other. They're aggressive, they're putting good swings on the ball, and they're doing it to all sides of the field. Everybody that comes up there is a threat. It's going to be tough, but we'll try to see if we can even this series and start with the first game tomorrow."
Nolan Arenado extended his major league leading hit streak to 22 games with a single in the seventh inning. Arenado also continued to show why he has become one of the best fielding third baseman in baseball when he fielded a hard hit grounder down the third base line off the bat of Chris Young, turned and fired it off balance to first from foul territory.
Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies connects for a single off of Carlos Torres #52 of the New York Mets in the seventh inning at Coors Field on May 2, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. Arenado extended his hit streak to 22 consecutive games.
(May 1, 2014 - Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)
The Mets scored first off of a wild pitch from Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa (3-3, 5.11) that scored Juan Lagares. Lagares extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a lead off double in the inning.
The Rockies came back in the bottom of the first with a big inning as the first five batters reached base. Tulowitzki hit a RBI single to left that scored Blackmon to tie the game. Justin Morneau then doubled (9) to center, scoring Arenado.
Wilin Rosario followed with a slow roller to third that hugged the foul line, staying fair and allowing De La Rosa to score.
"It was like slow motion for me," Wheeler said. "Me and David [Wright] both were just letting it roll. It started to roll foul, then it started to roll fair. [All you could do is] get down on the ground and start blowing it."
Corey Dickerson drove in the fourth run of the inning when he hit into a double play that scored Morneau.
Justin Morneau #33 of the Colorado Rockies hits an RBI double off of starting pitcher Zack Wheeler #45 of the New York Mets to score Nolan Arenado #28 of the Colorado Rockies and take a 2-1 lead in the first inning at Coors Field on May 2, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.
(May 1, 2014 - Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)
Tulowitzki drove in two more runs in the second on a single to left that scored De La Rosa and Blackmon. Blackmon added another run in the fourth when he grounded out to fist base, scoring D.J. LeMahieu from third to make it 7-1.
Granderson hit a two run homer in the sixth off of De La Rosa to pull the Mets to within 7-3.
Curtis Granderson #3 of the New York Mets rounds the bases on his two run home run off of starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa #29 of the Colorado Rockies as they Rockies held a 7-3 lead in the sixth inning at Coors Field on May 2, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.
(May 1, 2014 - Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)
"It's always good, anyway you can get positive results with the bat and get some hits across the board," Granderson said. "And especially in that fashion -- to get one out of the ballpark is good," Granderson said. "But ultimately, you're trying to help the team win the game, and we weren't able to do that today."
De La Rosa pitched six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits, striking out four and walking three. De La Rosa started off the year struggling in his first three games, compiling a record of 0-2, 9.69 ERA. In his four starts since he has posted a record of 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA. It would seem that De La Rosa has regained the form that won him 16 games last season.
Starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa #29 of the Colorado Rockies delivers against the New York Mets at Coors Field on May 2, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.
(May 1, 2014 - Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)
"I just kept my composure," De La Rosa said. "My command is better lately. When I needed to, I threw the pitches I wanted. ... I just try to take a big breath and go after the next hitter."
The Rockies added on runs in the seventh on a Blackmon solo homer, Morneau RBI single, and a Rosario sacrifice fly off of reliever Carlos Torres to increase the Rockies lead to 10-3.
Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates his solo home run off of Carlos Torres #52 of the New York Mets to give the Rockies an 8-3 lead in the seventh inning at Coors Field on May 2, 2014 in Denver, Colorado.
(May 1, 2014 - Source: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)
Wheeler lasted four innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits, striking out one and walking two. Friday's outing was the shortest of his career which totals 22 starts and the most runs ever given up.
"I honestly didn't have a clue where the ball was going today," Wheeler said. "I went back and looked at some video and all my balls were running, two-seam was cutting. It was just one of those days that I got my ground balls, but they found holes."
Post Game Brief:
Rockies starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin will make his 2014 season debut against the Mets on Sunday as he is activated off the disabled list.
Granderson's two run homer in the sixth ran his streak to five games with a run scored.
Coming Up:
Game three of the four game series will be Saturday at 6:10 PM MDT. Probable pitching matchup will be RHP Jenrry Mejia (3-0, 3.49) - LHP Franklin Morales (3-1, 4.40).