Clik here to view.
After losing three games to the Rockies, the Mets managed a victory on Sunday to remain above .500 on the season.
Coming into Sunday afternoon’s game, the last of four in Colorado, it felt like the Mets would not escape the weekend with one win. They had been blown out on Thursday and Friday nights and blew a couple of leads on Saturday night to fall three straight times to the Rockies. But Dillon Gee, the Mets’ lineup, and the bullpen were strong enough to beat Colorado on Sunday afternoon and improve the Mets’ record to 16-14 on the season.
Clik here to view.
With that, the Mets are just a game behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves. Of course, they’re also just half a game ahead of the last-place Marlins, as the National League East is pretty tight. But a loss on Sunday would have put the Mets in the division cellar and back at .500.
It wasn’t the first time they did it over the course of the series, but the Mets scored first. Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy singled to begin the game before David Wright flew out. But Curtis Granderson singled to plate Lagares and give the Mets the lead. Unfortunately, when Chris Young flew out to shallow left field with runners on first and third, Murphy tagged up and took a few steps towards home. It was a routine fake by a baserunner trying to force an errant throw from an outfielder, but Carlos Gonzalez’s throw was cut off. Murphy didn’t realize it, and he was thrown out as he tried to get back to third base.
Dillon Gee kept the Rockies off the board, though, throughout his six-plus inning start. The Rockies managed a couple of hits through the first two innings of the game but nothing else, and the Mets scored again in the third.
Leading off for the second time, Lagares struck out. Daniel Murphy walked, though, and David Wright doubled to center field, just barely missing a two-run home run. Murphy scored easily on the play. Rockies starer Jhoulys Chacin then walked Curtis Granderson, and Chris Young drilled a double to easily score Wright. Granderson was held at third, and the Rockies opted to intentionally walk Lucas Duda to load the bases. The move paid off, as Travis d’Arnaud grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Gee retired the Rockies in order in the bottom of the third, and the Mets scored another run in the fourth. With two outs in the inning and nobody on, Lagares and Murphy hit back-to-back doubles, and the latter put the Mets up 4-0 in the game.
Dillon Gee cruised through the sixth inning, and the Mets scored their fifth and final run in the top of the seventh. Chris Young drew a one-out walk, and Lucas Duda doubled to bring him home.
Already over 100 pitches on the afternoon, Dillon Gee was sent back out to start the bottom of the seventh inning. After a couple of hard singles, he was pulled in favor of Carlos Torres, who notched a ground out and a strikeout against the only two batters he faced. With left-handed hitter Charlie Blackmon up next, Terry Collins summoned Scott Rice, who got Blackmon to fly out to end the inning.
From there, the Mets didn’t score again, and Jeurys Familia came on to pitch the last two innings. He put up a zero in the eighth and allow a solo home run to Justin Morneau in the ninth, but the Mets’ lead was, for once, never really in jeopardy.
On Monday night, the Mets begin a three-game series with the Marlins in Miami at 7:10 pm EDT.
SB Nation GameThreads
* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Purple Row GameThread
Win Probability Added
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Big winners: Dillon Gee, 23.5% WPA, Daniel Murphy, +13.2% WPA
Big losers: Travis d’Arnaud, -14.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Curtis Granderson’s run-scoring single in the first, +11.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Chris Young flies out with runners on first and third in the first, Daniel Murphy gets doubled off third base to end the inning, -10.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +34.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: +15.1% WPA
GWRBI!: David Wright