NEW YORK — Like a character in a TV crime drama, the Rockies” offensive arrived in Gotham only to disappear “Without a Trace.”
A quintet of Mets pitchers shut out the Rockies 3-0 this afternoon at Shea Stadium, limiting the Rockies to a single hit. It was the 14th time in franchise history the Rockies were one-hit.
For the streaking Mets, it was the eighth victory in a row. For the sliding Rockies, a team hoping to get some traction before the all-star break, it was the third straight loss and fourth in their last five games.
New York third baseman David Wright punctuated the victory with a leaping grab of Garrett Atkins” line drive for the game’s final out.
After managing just three hits in a 2-1 loss to the Mets Friday night, the Rockies only hit today was Brad Hawpe’s lonely single in the fourth inning off starter Pedro Martinez. The three-time Cy Young winner left the game after the fourth inning with stiffness in his right shoulder.
Prior to the game, manager Clint Hurdle was asked about the state of his banged-up Rockies, a team struggling to stay in hunt in a weak National League West division that appears ripe for the taking if only the Rockies could play good baseball for an extended period of time.
“We are treading water right now,” Hurdle admitted. “We’ve had our fair share of adversity and we are trying to battle through it. We are trying to dig it out of the dirt right now, to put it plain and simple. It doesn’t have to be pretty.”
The only thing remotely pretty from the Rockies” vantage point was the work of starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Consistently slinging his fastball at 96-98 mph, the right-hander allowed three runs on eight hits, walking four and striking out eight. Jimenez was far from perfect, but he pitched well enough to keep the Rockies in the game.
The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, combining a Carlos Beltran double with an RBI-single by Fernando Tatis. At that point, the Mets threatened to blow the game open, loading the bases with two out. But Jimenez cranked up the heat, striking out pinch hitter Nick Evans with a 98 mph fastball.
Jose Reyes greeted Jimenez with a 420-foot homer to left to open the fifth and the Mets pushed across another run in the sixth on Brian Schneider’s run-scoring double that ate up Rockies first baseman Jeff Baker.
Martinez allowed no runs and just the one hit, but it was clear something was wrong in the third when the Mets” trainer came out to the mound to check on him.
Carlos Muniz (two innings), Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis and closer Billy Wagner (one inning each) followed up Martinez with five innings of no-hit ball.
After striking out 15 times in Milwaukee Thursday and 11 times Friday, the Rockies whiffed eight times today, with all-star Matt Holliday going down twice.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
