Just when the Rockies were regaining a little strut in their step, they tripped and fell back into old habits.
The Mets beat the Rockies 3-1 this afternoon at Coors Field on the back of starter Mike Pelfrey’s 5 2/3 innings of shutout pitching. The Mets won two of three to take the series.
Scoring opportunities were there, but the Rockies never gave the big crowd of 45,019 much reason to leap from their seats. The Rockies left nine men on base and batted 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Colorado’s lone run came on Yorvit Torrealba’s solo homer leading off the seventh against reliever Joe Smith. It was Torrealba’s third home run of the season.
Rockies rookie Greg Reynolds continued his big-league education with another solid start. However, the Mets made him pay for two mistakes.
Jose Reyes led off the game with a triple down the right-field line and scored on David Wright’s infield single to short. In the third, Reynolds walked Wright to open the inning, then threw a fat pitch over the plate for Carlos Beltran. He knocked it into the second deck in right field for a two-run homer.
Reynolds was charged with three runs on six hits in seven innings.
The Rockies squandered a prime opportunity in the first. Jeff Baker reached first on an infield single and moved to third on Matt Holliday’s base hit to right. Todd Helton walked and the ball got past Mets catcher Ramon Castro. If Baker had sprinted home immediately, he likely would have scored. Had he stayed put, the Rockies would have had the bases full with just one out. Instead, Baker hesitated before making a late dash for home where he was tagged out by Pelfrey covering the plate. When Garrett Atkins struck out, the inning was over.
Baker, so hot of late, had a tough day. He went 1-for-4 and made an error at second base in the fourth.
Mets closer Billy Wagner set the Rockies down in order in the ninth for his 17th save.
The Rockies begin a six-game, seven-day road trip through the American League beginning Monday in Kansas City. After three games against the Royals, the Rockies move on to Detroit for three games against the Tigers.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
