Final score: Mets 5, Rockies 1—Welcome back, Starling!

The Mets bested the Rockies 5-1 in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader at Coors Field. Germán Márquez’s struggles in 2022 continued, as he surrendered a pair of runs in each of the first and second innings to give the Mets an early lead. In his first at-bat back from the bereavement list, Starling Marte blasted a monster two-run homer in the first inning and Patrick Mazeika’s two-run double in the second inning gave Carlos Carrasco an early 4-0 lead to work with.

Carrasco worked with traffic on the bases in every inning except the fifth, but managed to scatter seven hits and limit the damage. He struck out four batters and walked none over 5 ¹⁄₃ innings of work, needing just 87 pitches to do so. The Rockies’ only run came in the sixth when C.J. Cron led off the inning with a double and Brendan Rodgers followed with a one-out infield hit. That was the end of Carrasco’s day and he was removed in favor of Adam Ottavino. Cron advanced to third on a fly ball and then scored on a dribbler in front of the plate by José Iglesias. Iglesias was initially ruled out at first base, but the Rockies challenged and the call was overturned, charging Carrasco with his only run of the day.

Drew Smith followed Ottavino with a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Seth Lugo then worked two impressive scoreless innings to finish the game and seal the victory for the Mets.

Full recap to follow.