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 The victory was the fifth in six games for the Rockies, who
scored six runs in the first two innings after scoring six in the
first four Thursday on their way to a 7-4 win.
"It's a nice formula if you can do it," Rockies manager Walt Weiss
said. "Last year, one of the things we struggled at was putting
games away when we had early leads. So it's nice to see us add on
runs late and for the starter to hold the lead and shut it down."
Center fielder Charlie Blackmon went 3-for-5 with a home run, two
RBI and three runs scored to raise his average to .380, five points
behind major-league leading Troy Tulowitzki, who went 3-for-4 with
three RBI and two runs scored.
With a single in the seventh, third baseman Nolan Arenado extended
his hitting streak to 22 games, tying Vinny Castilla for the third
longest in franchise history. Arenado, who last year became the
first rookie third baseman to win a National League Gold Glove
Award, made a spectacular play to open the eighth. He caught Chris
Young's grounder while crossing the base line and made a strong,
accurate jump throw to easily get him.
"This guy's making a highlight play every night," Weiss said. "I've
never seen anybody that accurate on the move like him where he's
ranging far right and far left and he manages to get the throw off
and it seems to always be chest-high."
The Rockies, who are 18-13 overall, improved to 10-4 at Coors Field,
where they are averaging 7.6 runs per game. The Rockies put the game
out of reach with a three-run seventh that included Blackmon's sixth
homer in 108 at-bats, matching his 2014 total in 246 at-bats.
Jorge De La Rosa (3-3) gave up three runs in six innings and won his
third straight start, with his ERA in those games 2.50. De La Rosa
allowed eight hits and three walks, but after yielding a run in the
first he held the Mets scoreless until he issued a leadoff walk in
the sixth followed by right fielder Curtis Granderson's two-run
homer.
"I think my command is a little better," said De La Rosa, whose
three-game winning streak came after after he went 0-2 with a 9.69
ERA in his first three starts. "I'm still walking people; I walked
three today. But when I need to throw a quality pitch, I've been
able to."
Granderson, who entered the game hitting .141 with one
homer and seven RBI in 92 at-bats, lined a two-run homer down the
right-field line to cut Colorado's lead to 7-3. De La Rosa then
walked first baseman Josh Satin and gave up a broken-bat bloop
single to catcher Travis d'Arnaud but regrouped. He got shortstop
Ruben Tejada to ground into a double play and threw a called third
strike past pinch hitter Bobby Abreu, the final batter he faced.
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In his 23rd career start and sixth this season, Zach Wheeler set
dubious career marks for innings pitched (four) and runs allowed
(seven). The Rockies pounced on him for four runs in the first and
built a 6-1 lead after two innings.
Wheeler said he had trouble warming up in the bullpen but figured
matters would change in the game. Instead, he said he had little
idea of how his pitches would move.
"All my balls were running," Wheeler said. My two-seamer was cutting
(rather than sinking. When they did hit it, they found holes. It was
one of those days that I got my ground balls, but they found holes."
NOTES: Commissioner Bud Selig was at the game as part of his
farewell tour to each major league ballpark. ... Rockies INF Josh
Rutledge was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to
Monday with a viral infection. 1B-3B Ryan Wheeler was recalled from
Triple-A Colorado Springs to take Rutledge's place on the roster.
Wheeler pinch hit in the eighth and singled on Kyle Farnsworth;s
first pitch... Rockies LF Carlos Gonzalez did not play but said he
expected to be in the lineup Saturday. He left Thursday's game with
a left index finger contusion. ... Weiss announced that RHP Jhoulys
Chacin (right shoulder strain) will make his 2014 debut and start
Sunday against the Mets. ... Mets 2B Daniel Murphy's streak of 28
consecutive stolen bases ended in the first when he broke for third
but was thrown out by De La Rosa. Murphy's streak dated to June 9,
2013 and was the second-longest streak in club history, behind Kevin
McReynolds' 33 straight stolen bases from 1987-1989.
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