DOUBLE TROUBLE
Matz digs early hole but offense buries Mets under 5 DPs
DENVER — Steven Matz got on a roll Thursday afternoon, but unfortunately for the Mets, that was only after he nearly became toast.
The left-hander, like many of his teammates, will have nightmares about Nolan Arenado, the Rockies’ All-Star third baseman who tormented the Mets throughout the series and particularly in finale.
Matz allowed five RBIs to Arenado in the first two innings, and the Mets never recovered — tying a team record by hitting into five double plays — in a third straight loss, 6-4 to the Rockies at Coors Field.
“I threw a couple of bad pitches and Arenado beat me twice,” Matz said. “That really sums up the whole game.”
The Mets had a three-game winning streak in the middle of this road trip, but lost the other seven games and will return to Citi Field on level with their season nadir, 10 games below .500.
“You don’t worry about the record,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “You just worry about how you do your thing every day and how you are playing the game, and we’ll start syncing everything up.”
Offensively, the Mets had chances late, but hit into double plays in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to kill potential rallies. Devin Mesoraco delivered the last of those daggers after the Mets had scored a run in the eighth on Wilmer Flores’ sacrifice fly. The Mets also hit into double plays in the second and third innings.
Matz lasted 5 2/3 innings and allowed five earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and two walks, at least preserving the bullpen from a marathon session after his rough start to the game. Paul Sewald allowed the Rockies’ final run without retiring a batter in the eighth.
The Mets had a productive road trip offensively, averaging five runs. But a starting rotation that had largely kept the team competitive even when it wasn’t hitting faltered, especially in the final three games, with Jason Vargas, Seth Lugo and Matz each allowing at least five runs.
“That’s been a tale of our season so far, even when we’re not winning games we have a part of us that is going good,” Callaway said, referring to the Mets’ recent offensive surge. “We just are having trouble getting all those things to sync up at the same time so we can get on a good run again.”
Said Matz: “We can’t focus on our record, whatever it is at this point. We just have to win games. Even if we were 10 games over .500, we still have to win games.”
Brandon Nimmo’s RBI single in the third pulled the Mets within 5-2. In the fourth, the Mets loaded the bases, but Amed Rosario was retired on a juggling catch by DJ LeMahieu to end the threat.
Todd Frazier’s eighth homer of the season was responsible for the Mets scoring their initial run in the first inning.
Arenado’s third homer in as many games, a three-run blast in the first inning, put Matz in immediate danger. Matz created his own trouble, allowing a leadoff double to LeMahieu before he hit Charlie Blackmon with a pitch. After Arenado homered, the next two batters reached, but Matz induced a double play to escape further torment.
Arenado struck again in the second with a two-run double that extended the Rockies’ lead to 5-1.
“Things aren’t going our way, but what are we going to do, sit here and pout about it?” Kevin Plawecki said. “We have to try to keep getting better, and you never know what happens.
“We’re not going to sulk around and feel for ourselves. We’re still going to have fun with each other, and we’re still going to go out there and compete.”