Today's date is July 29th. The Colorado Rockies are one game under .500. Tonight they shut down the Mets offense for the second consecutive night while getting substantial run support from their offense en route to a 6-1 victory at Citi Field in Queens. It was their eighth win in their last nine games, which is a feat they hadn't accomplished since April of 2013.
The Rockies struck first on a Carlos Gonzalez double that scored DJ LeMahieu, who had reached on a fielder's choice, stolen second and advanced to third on a Nolan Arenado ground-out.
James Loney tied the game for the Mets in the bottom of the second against Chatwood, who hadn't allowed a home run on the road all season before tonight. The Rockies' starter then proceeded to load the bases with two outs, and he was one fortuitous strike call away from walking in a run. He got Curtis Granderson to pop out on the next pitch to end the inning.
The Rockies were even worse at converting their early opportunities. Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu reached base consecutively in the third and the fifth, but the heart of the order produced absolutely nothing.
Finally, in the top of the sixth, the Rockies capitalized on a golden opportunity. Trevor Story led off with a single before he advanced to third on a Mark Reynolds double. Reynolds would have been out at second easily had Neil Walker not bobbled an easy throw from Michael Conforto. With runners on second and third with no outs for the second time in the game, the pressure was on the Rockies to push a run across. Nick Hundley delivered with a single that scored Story and gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead. Still, given the situation, the Rockies didn't get everything they should have out of that opportunity.
Tyler Chatwood looked less than impressive in the first two innings, but he calmed down and worked through seven strong frames; allowing just one run on three hits. He walked four, but he didn't allow any of them to score. It was the latest in a string of outstanding starts by Rockies starting pitching that has allowed them to win three games in a row despite a less than impressive road offense.
Mark Reynolds added an insurance run with a solo blast in the top of the eighth, before the bizarre Jake McGee/Scott Oberg drama of yesterday played out in almost identical fashion in the bottom of the inning.
For the second day in a row, McGee, who must really like playing in a Rockies uniform, failed to retire a batter. He allowed two singles before he was pulled by Walt Weiss in favor of Oberg, who turned in a performance almost as impressive as yesterday's bases-loaded magic act. It took him just three pitches to end the threat. If you had told me before the season that we would trust Scott Oberg more than Jake McGee in a pressure situation I would have given you the same answer as if you had told me that the Rockies would be 51-52 on July 29.
In the top of the ninth inning, Charlie Blackmon doubled, and then the Mets chose to walk Nolan Arenado, in the midst of an 0-for-14 slump, to face Carlos Gonzalez. That was a terrible mistake. On a full count pitch, CarGo slaughtered the baseball without even having the decency to say a blessing first. Its carcass landed on the party deck above the Mets bullpen, about 450 feet from home plate. That made it 6-1 Colorado; the first time in thirteen games at Citi field that they have scored more than three runs.
Adam Ottavino allowed a hit but worked a scoreless ninth.
The Rockies have won four games in a row on the road, and 8 out of 9 overall. They are within one game of getting back to .500 for the first time since May 21st, and they're just five games back in the Wild Card. Soak it in, Rockies fans. The next two months will determine whether or not they're for real, but they're definitely not bad. Bad teams don't do this.
Can they really keep this up? We'll find out tomorrow night as Jorge De La Rosa and Bartolo Colon (combined age: 78) face off at 5:10 MDT.
Source: FanGraphs
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