Rockies Power Up, Snap Home Skid By Beating Mets 10-8
DENVER (AP) — A show of power helped take the edge off the Colorado Rockies' recent pitching problems.
Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and Ian Desmond homered in succession during a six-run third inning, German Marquez pitched effectively for six innings and Colorado snapped an eight-game home losing streak by beating the New York Mets 10-8 on Tuesday night.
Carlos Gonzalez also went deep for the Rockies, who won at home for the first time since May 29. Arenado finished a triple shy of the cycle with four RBIs in a game that was delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes because of heavy rain.
"I think that just kind of shows the resilience of our team," Story said. "We know things aren't always going to go our way and we're not going to win every time we score a lot of runs. That's just how it is. But sometimes it's kind of contagious. We're just trying to hit the ball hard and few of them went out tonight."
Marquez (5-7) allowed four runs on six hits in picking up his first win in nearly a month. He struck out four and walked two and helped himself with a pair of hits, scoring a run and driving in another to help build a big enough cushion to outlast the Mets. Colorado, which had lost eight of 10 coming into the game, had seen its bullpen go 0-7 collectively with two saves in seven chances this month.
"The greater majority of games over the last couple of weeks, we're scoring enough runs," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "(Jacob) deGrom shut us down last night. But the offense is picking up, the averages are climbing. The situational hitting is better. We got 16 hits, a lot of contributions across the board, our pitcher included."
Jason Vargas (2-6) allowed seven runs on nine hits in a season-low 2 1/3 innings and became the first Mets pitcher since Bartolo Colon in 2014 against the Los Angeles Angels to surrender homers to three batters in a row.
The game was tied at 2 when the Rockies went up with their big inning during which they sent 11 batters to the plate against two Mets pitchers.
Charlie Blackmon singled off Vargas to start the third and Arenado followed by homering into the left field bleachers. Story then drove a 1-0 offering from Vargas into the same general area before Desmond went the opposite way with a drive into the right field seats. It was the eighth time in franchise history that three Rockies hitters had gone deep in succession.
"They were just bad pitches and they all got hammered," Vargas said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Rockies 10, Mets 8
After Vargas issued a one-out walk, Hansel Robles relieved and gave up run-scoring hits to Noel Cuevas and Marquez as Colorado pulled out to an 8-2 lead.
Gonzalez tacked on another run when he homered off Robles in the fourth and Arenado added an RBI single in the fifth.
"When you come to Coors Field, you tell your pitchers to not worry about what happens here and you move on," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "Forget about it."
The Mets got an RBI single from pinch-hitter Jose Bautista and subsequently loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, adding a second run on a two-out passed ball to pull to within 10-6. But Adam Ottavino induced an inning-ending groundout and struck out the side in the eighth to help fend off the Mets.
The Mets added a pair of runs on RBI groundouts in the ninth before Wade Davis fanned Michael Conforto for the final out.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: RHP AJ Ramos will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, the team announced. Ramos had a 6.41 ERA in 28 appearances this season. ... OF Jay Bruce, who missed four of the previous five games because of right hip soreness, has been placed on the 10-day disabled list. "He was really hurting," manager Mickey Callaway said. "So we made the decision to go ahead and put him on the DL so we can get him right so he can be the impactful player that he can be." Callaway said Bruce was headed back to New York to be evaluated by team doctors and undergo an MRI. "We'll go from there, see what's going on exactly."
Rockies: RHP Scott Oberg threw a side session Tuesday for the first time since going on the 10-day DL earlier this month because of a back strain. Oberg is eligible for reinstatement Wednesday, though there's no timetable yet for his return.
UP NEXT
Mets: RHP Seth Lugo (2-2, 2.49 ERA) has gone 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in his three starts this season.
Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis (5-1, 4.65 ERA) makes his 15th start of the season and the seventh at home, where he has no decisions in six previous outings.
By DENNIS GEORGATOS, Associated Press
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