The first four hitters for the Mets each smoked an extra-base hit, capped off by Pete Alonso’s massive home run, to stake David Peterson to a 4-0 lead and an eventual 9-1 Mets win over the Rockies Thursday afternoon in Denver. The victory, combined with a Braves loss earlier in the day, vaulted the Mets into second place in the National League East.
Francisco Lindor led off with a double and that was followed by an RBI double by Jose Iglesias, which was followed by an RBI two-bagger by J.D. Martinez. And Alonso, with a 471-foot blast made it the first time in franchise history where the team opened with four XBH.
As he’s been frequently this year, David Peterson was the beneficiary of the early run support. It wasn’t the most efficient outing for Peterson, who needed 88 pitches to complete five innings. But he was able to stick around long enough to run his record to 6-1 on the season.
Alonso homered again in the third inning and Mark Vientos went deep in the fifth. After two games where the team struggled to score runs in Coors Field, it was nice to see some offense. The Mets cracked 13 hits in the game, led by Alonso’s three and two hits apiece by Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor.
The Mets had Taylor and Jeff McNeil in the outfield and Carlos Mendoza had Taylor playing left field, which is typically the easier OF spot to play. But Mendoza knew what he was doing, as the more-experienced outfield defender in Taylor made a bunch of nice plays in left field.
With wins in three of their last four games, the Mets’ road trip looks better than it did earlier, and they’ve going 4-3 in the first seven game of the four-city trip. Up next is a visit to Seattle, where Jose Quintana will make the start Friday night at 10:10 p.m. Eastern.
Gut Reaction: the hitting was the headline. Alonso has his OPS up to .807. The intriguing subplot was the bullpen pitching. Reed Garrett is supposed to be activated in Seattle and someone has to get cut. Ottavino, Stanek and Danny Young pitched and all pitched good. The two Youngs and Brazoban have minor options. Ottavino, Stanek and Maton don’t. I think that Danny Young will draw the short straw because he threw two innings.
In Seattle it will be a battle of the second place teams in their respective divisions. I like the sound of that.
The Mets need to get their hitting shoes in for the trip to Seattle. Seattle’s overall 2.85 home ERA will surely suppress runs but I do like the pitching: Severino, Manaea, and Quintana are the Mets best three and they will negate most of the Mariners’ strength. Just need the hitting to continue.