After consecutive nights where the pitchers' nightmare of Coors Field consumed both Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese, and many Colorado pitchers, Logan Verrett spun an absolute gem 5,280 feet above sea level. Verrett, who was spot-starting for Mets' ace Matt Harvey in an attempt to try and limit his innings coming off from Tommy John surgery, was one of the most unlikely pitchers you would think to shut-down an offense in Denver. But his eight innings, four hits, eight strikeouts, and one earned run almost had Mets fans saying, "who needs Harvey anyway?"

Almost.

New York Mets' manager Terry Collins caught a lot of heat from the media and fans on his decision to try and limit Harvey when the team is in the middle of its first pennant race in almost eight years. And turning to a 25 year-old pitcher who had never made a Major League start in his career and who had been picked up by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft from the Mets last winter, released after Spring Training by Baltimore and picked up by Texas, and then DFA'd by the Rangers bringing him back to New York this season? That has to be almost managerial suicide.

Again, almost.

After watching his performance, Collins told the media, "I think what we did was the right thing. Matt (Harvey) needed  break and got it, and this kid really stepped up."

Verrett stepped up even to the point where the Mets are keeping him around for the foreseeable future. Following the game the Mets optioned extra reliever Dario Alvarez back to Triple-A Las Vegas and will keep Verrett around in the bullpen. There even is a strong possibility that Verrett could be spot-starting once again for somebody like Harvey or young phenom Noah Syndergaard in an attempt to keep them fresh for the stretch run into the end of September, and hopefully into the postseason.

The Mets could also be getting Steven Matz back soon which could prompt them to once again turn towards the six-man rotation. Matz, on Thursday, finished up his rehab stint with Class A St. Lucie and will be pitching in Double-A Binghamton on Tuesday. The southpaw is recovering from a partially torn left lat muscle and his return, along with the emergence of Verrett, could significantly help the Mets keep their young, stellar arms locked and loaded for the postseason run.