Mets Game 21: Win Over Rockies

Mets 7 Rockies 5

Only one bad inning for the Mets in this game. And this time, the Rox didn’t score 11 runs in that frame.

Mets Game Notes

Gee pitched brilliantly, using all four of his pitches at the edges of the strike zone and mixing up speeds just enough to keep the Colorado hitters off balance. When he stays away from the middle of the plate and changes speeds, he gets plenty of outs. Gee struggled only in the third inning, when the Rox scored three runs. Otherwise, the Rockies had a hard time hitting the ball squarely and driving it.

Three Mets had three hits: David Wright, Daniel Murphy, and Ruben Tejada. Wright and Lucas Duda drove in all of the Mets runs.

Scott Hairston did not hit for the cycle. He did not hit for anything, as a matter of fact – he was 0-for-4.

In the bottom of the fourth, with the score tied, two out, and a man on second, Colorado pitcher Guillermo Moscoso fought Gee through an outstanding at-bat, working the count full before stroking a hard line drive single to right field to bring home the go-ahead run. Moscoso really, truly looked like a MLB hitter. Why do I point this out? Because in 8 minor league seasons, Moscoso had all of 4 plate appearances (he was 0-for-4), and in his MLB career, he was 0-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt. Before joining the Rox, he played for AL teams, so he rarely if ever took BP, and since the DH is used in the minors he didn’t get much if any BP down there. As far as I know, the winter leagues use the DH so he wouldn’t have much opportunity to hit there, either. So my question is, how does someone with only 7 career plate appearances in 8 years of pro ball, with relatively no batting practice, look so comfortable, confident, and natural in the batter’s box? Bizarre, or, Moscoso is simply a fantastic athlete.

In the bottom of the seventh, down by two, Rox leadoff hitter Eric Young, Jr. swung at the first pitch he saw and lined out to short. If Roy Halladay is on the mound, I might excuse such an action. Otherwise, why isn’t Young taking a strike in that situation? Is there a new rule that makes a solo homer worth three runs? Bad baseball; that late in the game, when your team is behind, and especially if your team is behind by more than one AND you’re not a homerun hitter AND the starting pitcher is still out there, you take a strike.

In the top of the ninth, with Mike Baxter on third base, Rockies pitcher Edgmer Escalona threw a pitch low and inside to Dan Murphy that got past catcher Wilin Rosario. Rosario was originally charged with a passed ball, which SNY announcers Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez agreed with. Later, the official scorer changed it to a wild pitch, which I agree with. Why? Because Rosario was set up off the outside corner – half of his body was outside the strike zone. Escalona threw a sharp-breaking slider that was at least 6-8 inches inside — a good 2 1/2 to 3 feet (maybe more) from the intended target. He may even have crossed up Rosario, who reacted very late to the pitch (which was why it scooted by him). In any case, it was nice to have that “insurance run,” especially after the Rox scored once in the bottom of the ninth.

Next Mets Game

The final game of the series starts at 3:10 p.m. EST on Sunday afternoon. Johan Santana takes the ball against the ageless Jamie Moyer.