Mets drop 2 of 3 in Colorado, fall back to .500
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, left, confers with first baseman Pete Alonso, right, as relief pitcher Brooks Raley warms up in the eighth inning of a game against the Rockies on Sunday in Denver. Credit: AP/David Zalubowski
DENVER — The Mets’ long stretch of soft schedule ended Sunday with them looking, well, soft.
They lost again to the Rockies, 11-10, raising perhaps the reddest of recent flags amid a mediocre May.
In addition to dropping four of six games to Colorado this month, the Mets lost four of six games on this road trip against the Cubs and Rockies, who are in last place in their divisions.
It might be about to get much harder for them, too. From now until the All-Star break, beginning Tuesday when they host the Phillies, the Mets’ schedule consists exclusively of teams that either are contenders for the playoffs at this relatively early stage or were expected to be at the start of the season.
On Memorial Day, a traditional major checkpoint on the baseball calendar that for them coincides with the exact one-third point of the season, the Mets are 27-27.
“Good days ahead. Good things ahead,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Guys are competing their butt off. I’m really proud of them.”
Brandon Nimmo said: “Obviously, not exactly where we want to be, but I think we’re seeing some good signs . . . We’re a better team than what our record is right now . . . We feel good going up against anybody.”
Highlighting another doozy at Coors Field: wild scoreboard swings over a two-inning span from the top of the fourth to the bottom of the fifth. The Mets went from trailing by two to leading by four to trailing by five.
They nearly erased a four-run deficit in the ninth inning, twice bringing the potential tying run to the plate. Tommy Pham tripled home two runs and scored on a groundout by Brett Baty, but Eduardo Escobar grounded out against Justin Lawrence to end it.
The Mets had two homers, three triples and three doubles among their 14 hits. “They slightly outpitched us,” Nimmo said of the day and the weekend.
The bullpen blame this time went to righthander Stephen Nogosek, who inherited a tie game in the bottom of the fifth and allowed five runs and four hits. Austin Wynns doubled to put Colorado (24-30) back ahead, Charlie Blackmon followed with a home run and Ryan McMahon went deep — for a third game in a row — later in the inning.
Wynns, a 32-year-old catcher, has played 13 games this season for the Giants, Dodgers and Rockies. He has totaled six RBIs. Five of those have come against the Mets.
“It’s just a tough day,” said Nogosek, who has a 7.80 ERA in eight appearances since returning from the injured list. “It [stinks]. It’s brutal. This one really hurts. But gotta move on and keep going.”
The first half of the game was a mess for starters Tylor Megill (four innings, six runs) and Austin Gomber (also four innings, six runs).
Gomber held the Mets scoreless for three innings but gave up a six-spot in the fourth. The big blow: Francisco Alvarez’s three-run homer.
Megill allowed a pair of unearned runs — following his own missed-catch error on a grounder to first base — in the third inning. After the Mets staked him to a four-run lead, he gave it back immediately, allowing five consecutive Rockies to reach base with two outs in the fourth.
The key moment in that sequence was McMahon’s fly ball to left-centerfield. Starling Marte, starting in center for the first time in two seasons with the Mets, made a backhanded catch attempt and fell over/sort of dived for it. McMahon wound up with a three-run double.
“[Marte] was playing over in right-center,” Showalter said. “The ball was hit in left-center. We just couldn’t get to it.”
Megill has a 4.67 ERA. Showalter suggested that he was fatigued because of a high pitch count throughout his outing; Megill said he didn’t think so.
“I felt like my stuff was really good today,” he said. “I felt like I was commanding the ball well. Some unfortunate happenings, but at the end of the day, I felt like I threw pretty well.”
Showalter said: “I would’ve liked to see Tylor try to get through five innings there unscathed. At least stay in the game.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
