Colorado falters at home
Home cookin’ couldn’t comfort the Rockies.
A 2-0 loss to New York on Sunday afternoon — with the chant “Let’s Go Mets!” reverberating throughout Coors Field — left the Rockies in a bad place after a 3-6 homestand in which they lost all three series.
Sunday marked the first time in more than four years that the Rockies were shut out at Coors Field with six hits or fewer. The last time was against Atlanta on April 8, 2018.
Overall, the Rockies have lost 11 of their last 16 games and are two games under .500 (19-21).
Sunday’s game featured a terrific pitcher’s duel between New York right-hander Taijuan Walker and Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber.
Walker won out, thanks, in part, to excellent defense. The Rockies’ defense, skittish most of the season, let them down again. And the Rockies’ offense couldn’t produce the one big hit that might have changed the game.
“We had a couple of opportunities late in the game and couldn’t capitalize,” manager Bud Black said. “Their starter pitched great but, again, we couldn’t capitalize.”
Walker, who said he doesn’t like pitching at Coors Field, nevertheless dominated, blanking the Rockies for seven innings and limiting them to five singles and two walks. He struck out six. In six starts this season, Walker has blanked his opponent four times.
“He mixed it up well and kept us a little bit off-balance,” Colorado third baseman Ryan Mcmahon said. “We expanded (the zone) a little bit on him. I know I did. And I know some other guys did, too.”
Gomber pitched well enough to win, giving up two runs on seven hits, with no walks, over seven innings. But Colorado’s shaky defense and its Jekyll-and-hyde offense let him down.
“I felt good today, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep them off the board,” said Gomber, who made his longest start of the season and lowered his Coors Field ERA to 2.78 in 13 starts. “But I made them earn it and I didn’t give them any free passes.”
Basically, Gomber got robbed in the Mets’ decisive two-run sixth inning.
Brandon Nimmo hit a routine single to right field, but Randal Grichuk had the ball go between his legs. Nimmo eased into third on the two-base error. Francisco Lindor’s single through a drawnin infield scored Nimmo to put the Mets ahead, 1-0. Jeff Mcneil’s bloop double into no man’s land behind third base advanced Lindor to third, and Lindor scored on Pete Alonso’s groundout to first.
Grichuk’s error turned out to be a huge turning point.
“That came back to haunt us, for sure,” Black said. “They bunched some hits together after that.”
Black, however, was please with how Gomber pitched.
“He had a good fastball with some life to it, especially inside to the right-handed hitters,” Black said. “He threw some good sliders
and changeups, but the key to today’s game was his fastball.”
The Rockies’ best chance to score off Walker came and went in the seventh.
Back-to-back singles by Grichuk and Brendan Rodgers with no outs put Colorado in prime position to score, but a terrific double play rescued the Mets. Jose Iglesias grounded to Lindor at short, who shoveled the ball to second baseman Jeff Mcneil, who gunned the ball the first. Brian Serven’s groundout to third base left Grichuk stranded at third.
The Rockies were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.
The Mets (28-15) improved to 15-7 on the road and have won 12 of their 13 series.
Colorado opens a seven-day, seven-game road trip on Monday at Pittsburgh. The Rockies play a three-game series vs. the Pirates before moving on to Washington D.C. for a four-game set against the Nationals.