NEW YORK — Neil Walker halted the Rockies’ good-time roll Sunday at Citi Field, crushing a two-out, three-run homer off reliever Boone Logan in the seventh inning to propel the New York Mets to a 6-4 victory.
“We’re playing really well, and it’s really exciting where we are at right now,” second baseman DJ LeMahieu said. “We believe in ourselves, and you can’t fake that belief. Everybody is doing their job and doing it very well. Everybody knows their role, and we are executing. It’s been fun.”
The Rockies, of course, would have loved to sweep four games from the Mets and return to Denver riding a six-game winning streak as they prepare to host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday at Coors Field. It wasn’t to be. Walker came through, hitting his 17th homer of the season. It was the first home run served up by Logan all season. Indeed, it was the first surrendered by the left-hander since June 9, 2015, a 45 ⅔-inning streak that was the fourth-longest active run in the majors.
But it wasn’t the longball that hurt Logan. He issued walks to Alejandro De Aza and James Loney to light the fuse for the Mets’ rally.
“Boone’s been close to perfect this year, but his command today wasn’t like what it’s been all year,” manager Walt Weiss said. “The walks got him in trouble, and Walker came up with a big hit.”
Although the Rockies dipped back under .500 at 52-53, they return to Coors Field for an eight-game homestand against the three playoff contenders — the Dodgers, Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers — with something at stake. For a change, the Rockies won’t be relegated to simply playing the role of spoilers.
“It was a great road trip,” Weiss said. “We played well against two very good clubs (the Baltimore Orioles and Mets), so to go 5-2 on this road trip, that’s made our confidence certainly as high as it’s been all year.”
Colorado was positioned to win Sunday’s game, thanks to another solid effort from starter Chad Bettis. He went toe to toe with Mets ace Noah Syndergaard, pitching six innings and giving up three runs on five hits for the Rockies’ 20th quality start in July.
Bettis survived a rough beginning, giving up one run in each of the first three innings, but he ended up matching Syndergaard, the stocky Mets right-hander who averages 98 mph with his fastball and has been dubbed “Thor.” But Bettis, who matched a career high with eight strikeouts, was the more efficient of the two, throwing 101 pitches (62 strikes) vs. 118 (72) for Syndergaard. Syndergaard was charged with three runs on six hits and struck out six.
“I battled, but I know that the first three innings could have been a little bit better,” said Bettis, adding that the Mets were sitting on his sinker early.
Colorado appeared in control after taking a 4-3 lead in the seventh off New York reliever Jerry Blevins. Catcher Tony Wolters put down a perfect drag bunt for a base hit and moved to second on a passed ball. Pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn walked, and Charlie Backmon advanced both with a sacrifice bunt. After DJ LeMahieu drew an intentional walk, Carlos Gonzalez stroked a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Wolters.
Now the Rockies have to face the Dodgers, who are leading the National League wild-card race and are nipping on the heels of the San Francisco Giants for the National League West lead.
“This is a great opportunity for us,” Gonzalez said. “We are playing really well, and I think this is a good time for us to face the Dodgers and play really good baseball at home. We can continue to make strides. But we like our chances, and we’re ready to get back home.”
ROAD TO REDEMPTION
The Rockies are playing their best baseball of the season as August begins. A closer look:
- 5-2 road trip through Baltimore and New York
- 12-5 record since the all-star break
- 3.76 ERA in the month of July, the best mark in July since 2007 (3.77)
- 3.62 road ERA is third best in National League, trailing only the Mets and Nationals
- 20 quality starts by Rockies pitchers in July is the most in franchise history for a single month.
