The Colorado Rockies' bats couldn't quite find the clutch gene on a chilly night at Coors Field, falling 10-5 to the New York Mets in a game that highlighted both promise and frustration for the home team.
While the Rockies managed to rack up hits and put runners on base, their inability to capitalize with runners in scoring position—going just 3-for-13 in those situations—proved costly. The loss drops Colorado to 14-23 on the season, while the Mets improved to 14-22 and continued their recent surge.
The game got off to a rough start for Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen, who was coming off an impressive outing against these same Mets. But there was no repeat performance this time. On just the third pitch of the game, Juan Soto launched a 435-foot leadoff home run—the first of his standout career—giving New York a quick 1-0 lead.
Lorenzen managed to keep the damage minimal until the fourth inning, when the Mets broke through for three runs. It started with a leadoff walk to Brett Baty, who moved to third on a Marcus Semien double. Both came home on a Carson Benge single, and Benge later scored on a groundout by Luis Torrens to make it 4-0.
The game unraveled for Lorenzen in the sixth inning, when three straight hits to start the frame ended his night. He allowed an RBI single to Francisco Alvarez before exiting, but the damage didn't stop there. Reliever Zach Agnos couldn't prevent the inherited runners from scoring on a Soto sacrifice fly and a Bo Bichette single. A botched double-play ball added another run, pushing the Mets' lead to 8-0.
Lorenzen finished with five innings pitched, allowing seven runs on 11 hits with three walks and two strikeouts. He threw 87 pitches (53 strikes) and induced six groundouts, but left too many pitches over the plate that the Mets punished in the cold air. His ERA now sits at 6.92.
Despite the early struggles, Agnos showed resilience by eating up innings to save the bullpen. He worked four innings, allowing three runs on four hits while throwing 59 pitches. The Mets tacked on two more runs in the late innings after Baty singled and Semien hit a home run.
On the other side, Mets starter Freddy Peralta continued his dominance at Coors Field, limiting the Rockies to just four hits over five innings. Colorado had their chances but couldn't break through against Peralta, who improved to 4-1 in his career at the hitter-friendly ballpark.
For Rockies fans, the bright spot was the performance of Rumfield, who collected three hits in the losing effort. But with the team struggling to string together wins, every missed opportunity at the plate feels magnified. The Rockies will look to bounce back and find that timely hitting that's been eluding them in recent games.