Final Score: Mets 14, Rockies 9: Cespedes gives his best to us

Yoenis Cespedes erupted for five hits, three home runs, and seven RBI as the Mets tied their season-high for runs scored while racking up sixteen hits in the opener of a three-game series in Colorado. Cespedes also scored 5 runs and stole a base while piling up 15 total bases—just one shy of the Mets single game record set by Edgardo Alfonzo back in 1999. Travis d’Arnaud and Michael Conforto added back-to-back homers to give the Mets five long balls on the night, all at least 400 feet in distance.

A grand slam from Cespedes helped New York build a 7-1 lead in the second inning, but starter Bartolo Colon couldn’t hold the fort.  The Rockies chipped away by scoring in each of the first five innings until the game was tied, 8-8. Colon finished with an ugly line of three and two-thirds innings and seven earned runs, as he was lit up for nine hits including three home runs. The Rockies made a bid to take the lead in the fifth, but Curtis Granderson threw out Nick Hundley at the plate to end the inning.

Cespedes gave the Mets a 10-8 lead with a two-run bomb in the sixth, and New York never looked back. In his last at-bat of the night in the ninth, Cespedes had a chance to hit a fourth homer, secure a cycle with a triple, or at least tie the team total bases mark with a hit—but was retired on a warning track fly on a running catch by Carlos Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, the bullpen did a pretty nice job of slowing down Colorado. Sean Gilmartin came on for two and one-third innings and was credited with the win, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three.  Hansel Robles gave up a run in his lone inning (actually giving him a below-average ERA by tonight's standards), while Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia tossed a scoreless inning each to seal the win.

As for the rest of the offense, every position player in the starting lineup got at least one hit.  Granderson and Kelly Johnson each had two hits and a walk, Wilmer Flores collected two hits including a double, and Daniel Murphy scored twice and drove in two.

The Mets lead over the Nationals is now a season-high five games, and they will play the second game of the series Saturday night with Jon Niese on the hill against lefty Chris Rusin.

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