Mets vs. Rockies recap: Early lead washed away as Mets lose again

Following the retirement of Mike Piazza’s number on Saturday night, the Mets lost to the Rockies in a game slightly delayed by and mostly played in rain. A player who hadn’t been in the organization at all until Saturday was part of a couple of pivotal moments, too, both of which didn’t help the Mets’ chances of winning.

Signed seemingly out of nowhere, Justin Ruggiano was in the Mets’ lineup in center field on Saturday night, as the team finally put Jose Reyes on the disabled list and picked up the right-handed hitter to complement a very left-handed-hitting groups of outfielders. With the Mets up 2-0 in the top of the fourth, the Rockies got their first hit against Bartolo Colon when Nolan Arenado hit a one-out single.

Carlos Gonzalez then drilled a fly ball deep to right-center field. Ruggiano tracked the ball well and dove for it, but it glanced off his glove and turned what would have been a spectacular catch into a double. Despite his full-speed attempt at catching the ball, Ruggiano somehow avoided injury as he careened head-and-shoulders first into the outfield fence.

Trevor Story, who later left the game with an injury, singled to put the Rockies on the board, and rookie David Dahl hit a two-run home run that gave the Rockies the lead for good.

The Mets had a chance to respond in the bottom of the fourth, as Ruggiano and Kelly Johnson hit back-to-back one-out singles. With Bartolo Colon at the plate and Curtis Granderson on deck, however, Ruggiano attempted to steal third base and was thrown out. Had he not attempted that stolen base, Granderson, who had hit the ball hard in each of his first two at-bats against Jorge De La Rosa, would have come up with a chance to at least tie the game.

It would be silly to get on Ruggiano for not making the catch earlier in the game, but his stolen base attempt was about as ill-advised as it gets. And the fact that Justin Ruggiano factored heavily into the game speaks to where the Mets are in terms of having a healthy roster at this stage of the season.

Ruggiano was far from the only player who factored into the loss, of course. The Mets didn’t hit much generally and made a couple of poor throws to first base, where first-baseman-of-the-day Kelly Johnson wasn’t able to bail out his fellow infielders. And Colon, pitching on short rest, went from throwing a no-hitter to getting knocked around.

So the Mets enter the series finale, their last game before Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline, looking for their first win in seven games against the Rockies this year.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Kelly Johnson, +13.9% WPA
Big losers: Bartolo Colon, -39.9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Wilmer Flores drives in a run with a single in the first, +10.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: David Dahl hits a go-ahead home run in the fourth, -26.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -43.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: -6.4% WPA
GWRBI!: David Dahl