Mets Win First of Three Against Rockies, 4-2, As Peterson Finally Comes Through
The New York Mets took the first game of their three-game set against the Colorado Rockies , 4-2, as the Mets built a big lead and survived a strange trip-and-tumble by center fielder Carson Benge that nearly allowed the Rockies to climb back in this one.
This as an unusual contest from the start, as a strong wind blowing in prevented the usual Coors Field offensive fireworks. Neither team could manage run through the first five innings, as Tomoyuki Sugano shut down the Mets, who went with an unusual pitching sequence to protect struggling lefty David Peterson .
That arrangement was a double opener, as Huascar Brazoban pitched the first without giving up a run, and Austin Warren picked up Brazoban with two more scoreless frames. Peterson then entered, and he had one of his better recent outings as he gave up two runs in four innings of work.
It was Benge who broke through with the first Mets hit of the game, and his solo home run put the Mets up 1-0. The Mets quickly plated another one on back-to-back doubles by Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens off Sugano to double the lead. Juan Soto then walked, and a ground ball to the right side by Bo Bichette acted as a de facto sacrifice, with Mark Vientos hitting a single to center to up the lead to 4-0.
Benge quickly turned from hero to potential goat, however, as Jordan Beck followed a Willi Castro single with a deep fly ball to right center that became a triple when Benge took a bad read on the ball, then tripped and fell. His gaffe cost the Mets a run, and Kyle Karros drove home Beck with a single to make it 4-2.
That was it for Peterson, and Craig Kimbrel survived a shaky eighth inning after a legitimate triple by Mike Moniak brought the tying run to the plate. But Kimbrel was able to strand Moniak at third, which set the stage for a 1-2-3 ninth as Devin Williams earned his fourth save of the season. Sugano took the loss as Peterson got his first win of the year.
The Mets have now won three of their last four games, but they literally don’t know when they’ll be playing again. The forecast is for a spring snow storm tomorrow that could bring as much as nine inches of snow to downtown Denver, so they could get an unexpected respite as their road trip continues.
The Mets are scheduled to send Freddy Peralto to the hill against Michael Lorenzen , but all bets are off on this one being played until the extent of the storm becomes clearer.
