Mets vs. Rockies recap: For Grandy’s home run majesties

The Mets aren’t anywhere near the playoff race at this point, but individual games like their Wednesday night comeback in Colorado are still enjoyable when they come around. And after having lost so many games in which they gave up a bunch of runs in the early going this season, it was a pleasant surprise to see them turn one of those games into a win.

Of course, that sort of thing is more possible in Colorado than it is in most places, but there’s nothing wrong with that sort of comeback. Things had gotten off to a—dare I say—rocky start for the orange and blue as Chris Flexen’s second start in the big leagues didn’t go any better than his first. The 23-year-old lasted just three innings, gave up five runs on eight hits, and left after that with a blister on his right index finger.

With that, Flexen has a 12.00 ERA through his first two major league starts, both of which were brief. That’s not a deal-breaker for his long-term prospects as a major league pitcher, but clearly he’s not quite there yet. That turnaround could happen at the major league level, but under normal circumstances—or even close to normal ones—Flexen would not be pitching major league games just yet.

Surprsingly, though, the Mets’ Addison Reed-less bullpen did not allow the rockies to score the rest of the way. Chasen Bradford threw a pair of perfect innings, Fernando Salas struck out two in a scoreless frame, Paul Sewald threw two scoreless, and AJ Ramos finished things off with one scoreless.

That gave the Mets’ offense plenty of time to come back. Things started inauspiciously when Yoenis Cespedes plated a run as he grounded into a double play in the fourth, but Jay Bruce hit a solo home run after that to cut the Mets’ deficit to three runs. In the fifth, Amed Rosario tripled to score Curtis Granderson, and Rosario himself came in to score on a Travis d’Arnaud ground out.

And things really went the Mets’ way in the sixth, as Cespedes plated Asdrubal Cabrera with a double that tied the game, and not long after that, Granderson hit a three-run home run to right-center field that put the Mets up for good. This being Coors Field, getting some insurance wasn’t a bad plan, and the Mets did that, as Michael Conforto singled home a run—still in the sixth inning—and Cabrera hit a ground rule double to make it 10-5. And that was all the Mets needed.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Curtis Granderson, +26.8% WPA, Asdrubal Cabrera, +16.3% WPA
Big losers: Chris Flexen, -21.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Curtis Granderson hits a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth, +22.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Gerardo Parra hits a two-run double in the third, -13.3% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -0.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: +50.9% WPA
GWRBI!: Curtis Granderson