Career power night for Met
Cespedes hits 3 homers — including slam — with 7 RBIs.
Yoenis Cespedes put on quite a show in his first game at Coors Field.
Cespedes hit three home runs, including a grand slam, and had a career-high seven RBIs as the New York Mets overpowered the Colorado Rockies 14-9 on Friday night.
“Good hitters find a night where they can lock themselves in and they won’t miss a ball,” Cespedes said through an interpreter. “They will hit it hard. I had that kind of night. This was the best night I have ever had.”
Travis d’Arnaud and Michael Conforto also had home runs in the seventh inning in the Mets’ first five-homer game since Sept. 5, 2014, against Cincinnati.
Cespedes led off the eighth with a chance to tie the major league record for most home runs in a game. He singled off reliever Tommy Kahnle for his fifth hit of the game, a career best.
He came up again with two outs in the ninth to face Rafael Betancourt and hit a drive to right-center field that Carlos Gonzalez caught near the warning track.
Acquired from Detroit in a trade deadline deal July 31, Cespedes began the power display with a slam off rookie Jon Gray in the Mets’ six-run second inning, helping New York take a 7-1 lead.
He led off the fourth with his second homer, this one off reliever Christian Bergman. His third, a two-run drive off Christian Friedrich, snapped an 8-8 tie in the sixth.
It was the third time this season a Mets player has hit three home runs in a game. Lucas Duda was the last July 29 against San Diego.