5/2 Game Recap: Zack Wheeler And Mets Get Pounded By Rockies 10-3

The Mets entered Friday night’s action looking to even their series against the Colorado Rockies at a game apiece, but more importantly, seeking to improve upon Thursday’s generally poor performances on the mound, in the field, and at the plate.

May 2, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher

(left) meets with catcher Travis d

Unfortunately, things did not exactly go according to plan, as they dropped their second straight to the Rockies, while a second straight Mets starter endured a terrible outing.  They also had a few more misplays in the field, and Colorado pitching kept the Mets bats relatively quiet throughout the night.

Colorado ace Jorge De La Rosa started against the Mets, and outperformed his counter-part Zack Wheeler, who was making his first ever start at Coors Field.  The game quickly soured on Wheeler, as the Rockies jumped him for 6 runs on 7 hits through the first 2 innings of play, en route to an eventual 10-3 victory.

Mets Starting Lineup:

CF) – Juan Lagares; 2B) – Daniel Murphy; 3B) – David Wright; LF) – Chris Young; RF) – Curtis Granderson; 1B) – Josh Satin; C) – Travis d’Arnaud; SS) – Ruben Tejada; SP) – Zack Wheeler.

Game Recap:

Jorge De La Rosa‘s opening pitch to Juan Lagares was a fastball, low and inside for ball one.  Two pitches later, Lagares struck his third double in two games against the Rockies.  Batting second, Daniel Murphy stroked a base hit to left, putting runners on the corners.  With David Wright up, De La Rosa unleashed a wild pitch, allowing Lagares to score from third base, and Murphy to move up to second.  With Wright still up, Daniel Murphy was thrown out attempting to steal third.  Wright then followed with a base hit to left, but was left stranded.

Zack Wheeler’s first pitch to center fielder Charlie Blackmon was a fastball, outside for ball one.  Blackmon then singled beyond the reach of Daniel Murphy.  After Wheeler walked number two batter Nolan Arenado, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki delivered Blackmon from second base with a base hit to left.  Justin Morneau followed with a double to left, plating Arenado.  With Tulowitzki at third and Morneau on first, catcher Wilin Rosario‘s dribbler half way down the third base line defied the Mets, and stayed fair to score Tulowitzki.

Still with no outs, and runners on the corners, Corey Dickerson lined a sac fly to Cris Young in left, scoring Morneau from third, but Wilin Rosario was then tagged out (scored 7-5-4-3) for the second out.  Right fielder Brandon Barnes finally flied to center to end the inning, but not before the Rockies took a 4-1 lead.  Zack Wheeler expended 23 pitches, with only 11 (48%) going for strikes.

With one out in the bottom of the 2nd, Jorge De La Rosa reached on an infield hit, that Zack Wheeler could not handle.  Charlie Blackmon then followed with a single to center.  A sharp grounder by Nolan Arenado to Wright moved the runners into scoring position.  With two outs, Troy Tulowitzski singled to left, driving in both runners for a 6-1 Rockies lead.

Zack Wheeler was finally able to retire the side in order in the third.  He was up to 53 pitches for the game, with an improved 32 (60%) going for strikes.  His fastball was consistently clocking between 94-96mph.

However, Zack encountered yet more trouble in the bottom of the 4th inning.  Lead off batter Brandon Barnes reached on Ruben Tejada‘s throwing error.  Then a walk, and a sacrifice later, Barnes was able to score on Charlie Blackmon‘s grounder to Josh Satin at first.

The 4th inning was Zack Wheeler’s last.  He exited the game on the losing side after allowing 7 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits, 2 walks, with only one strikeout.  He finished with 69 pitches, with only 40 (57.9%) going for strikes.

The Mets finally put some more wood to De La Rosa in the 6th inning.  Chris Young drew a lead off walk, and scored on Curtis Granderson‘s second home run of the season, to make it a 7-3 game.

Jorge De La Rosa used his 100th, and last pitch of the night to get pinch hitter Bobby Abreu looking at strike three to end the top of the 6th, while also stranding Josh Satin at third.

Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Zack Wheeler.  Carlos Torres entered the game in the 6th.

In the 7th inning, Charlie Blackmon continued abusing Mets pitching, when he launched a long home run to right field off Carlos Torres.  Three more hits off Torres led to another run, and a sacrifice fly by Wilin Rosario delivered Troy Tulowitzski from third with the Rockies 10th run of the game.

Kyle Farnsworth entered the game in the bottom of the 8th inning.

The Mets went quietly in the ninth, closing out their second straight loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Scoring Summary:

• Top 1st inning – Juan Lagares led off with a double, and Daniel Murphy singled to put runners on the corners.  Jorge De La Rosa’s wild pitch allowed Lagares to score from third.

• Bottom 1st inning – A lead off single by Charlie Blackmon, a walk, and a single by Troy Tulowitzki tied the game.  A double by Justin Morneau gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.  An infield hit by Wilin Rosario scored Tulowitzki to give Colorado a 3-1 lead.  A sac fly by Corey Dickerson scored Morneau to make it a 4-1 game.

• Bottom 2nd inning – An infield hit by Jorge De La Rosa was followed with a single by Charlie Blackmon.  After being moved into scoring position, Troy Tulowitzki‘s double scored both runners to give Colorado a 6-1 lead.

• Bottom 4th inning – Brandon Barnes reached on an E-6, and DJ LeMahieu drew a walk.  De La Rosa advanced the runners.  Charlie Blackmon’s grounder to Satin scored Barnes for a 7-1 Rockies lead.

• Top 6th inning – After Chris Young drew a lead off walk,  Curtis Granderson hit his second home run of the season to make it a 7-3 game.

• Bottom 7th inning – Charlie Blackmon’s solo home run off Carlos Torres made it an 8-3 game.  Singles by Nolan Arenado, Troy Tulowitzski and Justin Morneau plated the Rockies 9th run, and a sac fly by Wilin Rosario scored Tulowitzski to make it a 10-3 game.

Highlights:

• The Colorado Rockies lineup featured six .300 hitters.

• Daniel Murphy’s streak of 28 straight stolen bases (dating back to last season) ended in the 1st inning, when he was thrown out attempting to steal third.

• In the course of getting roughed up in the 1st inning, Zack Wheeler topped out with a 96 mph fastball to Troy Tulowitzki.  Otherwise, Wheeler consistently hit 95mph throughout his 4 innings of work.  Zack entered the game with a 3.99 ERA, and watched it balloon to a 5.13 mark.  Perhaps the worst outing of his short career, ironically, comes on the heels of what was perhaps his best outing of the season against Miami.

• Daniel Murphy made a brilliant (full extension) diving catch in the 7th inning.

• Curtis Granderson was 2 for 4, with 2 RBI.

Next:

5/3 Saturday, 8:10pm EST – Mets @ Rockies

Jenrry Mejia (3-0) vs. Franklin Morales (3-1)

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