Rocky Mountain Sweep

Happy Monday! The Mets are Good, as is The Mets Newsletter. Consider a paid subscription so you get it in your inbox every morning. 

Clay Holmes went as far as he ever has before and the Mets went deep three times as they finished a sweep of the dreadful Colorado Rockies, winning the finale 5-3. 

It did not look good at first. Sidearming lefty Carson Palmquist, who went into the game with an 8.78 ERA, mowed down the Mets the first time through the order, striking out six of the first nine batters he faced. Meanwhile, Holmes served up a solo home run to Orlando Arcia to lead off the top of the third, giving the Rockies a seemingly insurmountable 1-0 lead. It looked like Holmes was once again going to be a hard luck loser - he had lost twice recently while getting exactly zero run support. 

Everything changed in the fourth as New York saw Palmquist for a second time. Starling Marte walked, then stole second base. Juan Soto was hit by a pitch. Then Pete Alonso golfed a three-run shot off an outside 91.2 mph four-seamer to right to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. The Polar Bear is four home runs behind David Wright for second on the Mets All-Time home run list. 

The Rockies, surprisingly enough, answered back to tie it the very next half inning. With one out, Holmes hit Keston Huira with a pitch. After getting Arcia to fly out to right, Tyler Freeman hit a wind-aided two-run homer to right center. 

With one out in the bottom half of the fifth, Francisco Lindor, hitting right-handed homered to left center to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. Palmquist’s day was done soon after. 

As dumb as it may sound, with the exception of the two pitches that were hit for home runs, Clay Holmes was exceptional. He not only pitched into the seventh inning for the first time this season, but he finished it still having thrown only 85 pitches. In fact, he retired all seven Rockies he faced after giving up the Freeman dinger. Reed Garrett handled the eighth. He allowed a one-out single and a stolen base, then struck out his next two hitters. His ERA is now 0.70.

In the bottom half of the eighth, Soto, who had gone oh so very long without homering, homered for the second consecutive day, this one to right center to give the Mets a much appreciated insurance run. 

Edwin Díaz gave up a hit for the first time in forever to start the top of the ninth, then struck out the next three batters to finish the job. 

The Mets swept possibly the worst team in MLB history. They took care of business, and it’s getting some hitters hot in the process. It’s all good at the moment. 

The Mets have now won 26 straight games when Francisco Lindor homers. The record is the Brooklyn Dodgers winning 29 in a row when Carl Furillo went yard.

They went 7-2 on the homestand. Remember how it started? That terrible extra-inning loss to the Dodgers. They won seven of their next eight after that. Quality of some of the opponents aside, that’s pretty damn resilient. 

Lindor and Alonso both homered in the same game for the 28th time. According to Elias they’ve broken a Met record - Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson had homered in the same game only 27 times.

Lindor passed Derek Jeter in the all-time MLB shortstop home run leaderboard. He has 261, Jeets 260.

Gary Cohen revealed on the SNY broadcast that tonight’s starter Paul Blackburn almost had career-ending surgery last offseason. Instead, on his third try, he found a specialist in Los Angeles who suggested a spinal fluid surgery that would enable him to keep pitching. 

The Phillies lost, so the Mets have sole possession of first place in the NL East. Now let’s see how this June goes. In the past, this month has been season-killers.

Sorry, but the non-stop assault of the senses will continue at Citi Field. Wednesday’s game with just organ music was an anomaly. 

Daniel Wexler reported that pitcher Will Watson was promoted from the Low-A St. Lucie Mets to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets scored a run in the top of the eighth and the ninth to edge the Iowa Cubs 5-4. Donovan Walton went yard. Gilberto Celestino, Ronny Mauricio, Luis De Los Santos, and Luke Ritter all had two-hit days. Dedniel Nuñez got the dub, tossing a scoreless eighth, striking out one. His Triple-A ERA is down to 3.00. Ty Adcock was credited with the drama-free save.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies scored three runs in the top of the ninth to come from behind and defeat the Chesapeake Baysox (Orioles affiliate) by a score of 5-3. Alex Ramírez went 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. His line drive single to right in the ninth tied the game, and Matt O’Neill’s base hit to center gave Bing the lead.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones won their 13th consecutive game at home, walking off the Aberdeen Ironbirds (Orioles) 4-3. Chris Suero went 2 for 4 with a home run, a run scored, three RBI, and a strikeout. His single in the bottom of the ninth won the game for Brooklyn. Joel Díaz got the start. He allowed six hits and two earned runs in four and two thirds innings. Díaz walked just one and struck out five. 

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets and Palm Beach Cardinals were rained out. They’ll make the game up at a later date to be determined.

On this day 25 years ago the Mets acquired Lenny Harris from the Diamondbacks in exchange for Bill Pulsipher. I loved Lenny. 

Tonight the Mets begin a four-game series with the Dodgers out on the west coast. Paul Blackburn (season debut) will start for New York (NL). MLB.com lists the Dodgers starter as TBD, but Gary Cohen said it’s going to be Dustin May (3-4, 4.20 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 pm eastern. The game will air on PIX11 and MLB Network (out of market).