Many Ways To Win

For the second night in a row, the Mets won a game over the Colorados by the score of 14-9. Both nights, the Mets raced out to large leads and then had to weather a Colorado comeback, but would ultimately hang on. On Friday, the Mets won by virtue of bombing the Colorados into submission, blasting 5 Home Runs and knocking their starting pitcher out of the game in the 3rd inning. Saturday, the Mets did things a little differently. This time, the Mets only hit one Home Run, this one coming from Juan Uribe, but balanced that by hitting 9 doubles as part of a 21-hit attack. Nonetheless, this was another one of those games that sort of typified Coors Field baseball. Not a good night if you were a pitcher, but if you were a hitter you had a wonderful time of things.

Once again, the Mets jumped out to an early lead, scoring 3 runs in the 2nd off of Chris Rusin, as Travis d'Arnaud, Ruben Tejada and Juan Lagares each hit RBI doubles. But Jon Niese handed the runs back when Kyle Parker reached him for a 3-run triple.

And then came the 3rd inning.

Uribe led off the 3rd with a Home Run, which might have been the most innocuous hit of the inning. Uribe would bat again later in the inning, which should tell you right there what went on, and his double play served to give the Colorados their first two outs of the inning. In between, well, everyone hit. The 8 hitters subsequent to Uribe's Home Run either singled, doubled or in the case of Tejada, walked, 7 runs crossed the plate, and Rusin was chased from the game after basically being forced to absorb a rather merciless beating that took the game from 3-3 to 11-3. Rusin's successor, Justin Miller, fared little better, as he survived the 4th but was then reached for 3 more runs in the 5th before departing in favor of obscure pitcher Scott Oberg. By this point the score was 14-3 and you started to wonder if the Mets club record of 23 runs in a game was in jeopardy. That didn't happen, as Oberg and other Colorados Pitchers held the Mets scoreless the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, Jon Niese struggled, probably due to trying to throw strikes while pitching with a big lead combined with Colorado. Niese gave up a run in the 5th and 3 more in the 6th courtesy of a Charlie Blackmon Home Run before departing himself, leaving what was now a 14-7 game. Eric O'Flaherty entered and immediately gave up a Home Run to Jose Reyes to make it 14-8. And once again, you got those bad Dante Bichette flashbacks because it's still Colorado, and no matter how bad the Colorados seem to be, they still have to strike a little fear into your heart because stupid things happen in this ballpark.

Terry Collins had to manage the remainder of the game with this in mind, and while under normal circumstances a 5 or 6 run lead wouldn't have necessitated the use of Tyler Clippard or Jeurys Familia, well, who wants to fuck around? Carlos Torres allowed the Colorados a 9th run in the 7th and by that point I think we'd all had enough, and Clippard and Familia finished the game out.

This, much like Friday, was another Baseball Farce. Again, you do have to go up there and hit the ball, but when the hell did the Mets turn into a team that could score 28 runs in 2 days? For that matter, how the hell did the Mets allow 18 runs in 2 days and come away with wins both times? Somehow, they've done it and while Washington has won their games, again, by simply winning and maintaining their lead in the division, they are making time evaporate. Each time the Mets win, that's one fewer game for Washington to come back. Not that they've displayed much of an indication that they plan to do so of late, but I don't think anybody is falling asleep on them right now.

Then again, nobody should be falling asleep on the Mets either.