Rockies, Mets kick off crucial stretch

Link copied!

By already authoring a winning streak and a losing streak of at least eight games apiece, the Colorado Rockies have matched a feat last achieved by the 2018 New York Mets. Beginning Friday against the Rockies, the Mets need to mirror their opponent by embarking upon a sustained, season-saving run of success.

The Mets will open a defining stretch of their schedule Friday when they host the Rockies in the first game of a three-game series. Jacob deGrom (3-5, 3.49 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for New York against Colorado's Antonio Senzatela (4-4, 5.33 ERA) in a battle of right-handers.

Both teams earned wins Thursday afternoon, when the host Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 7-3 in the rubber game of a three-game series and the visiting Rockies avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of Chicago Cubs with a 3-1 victory.

The win Thursday capped a 25-game stretch in which the Mets went 13-12 over eight series, only one of which was contested against a team with a winning record as of Friday (the National League-leading Los Angeles Dodgers won three of four from May 27-30).

But there aren't any breathers on tap for the Mets, whose final 28 games before the All-Star Break are against teams that will enter Friday with a winning record. After hosting the Rockies, New York visits the crosstown Yankees before facing the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Mets are just 9-16 this season against teams with a winning record, but manager Mickey Callaway said he's looking forward to the opportunity for his team, which enters Friday five games behind the division-leading Phillies in the NL East, to prove it is a legitimate playoff contender in the National League -- something it hasn't been this late in a season since 2016.

The Mets enjoyed a nine-game winning streak in April 2018 before falling out of contention with a nine-game losing streak from May 31 through June 9.

"We have to beat the best to be the best," Callaway said Thursday afternoon. "And we're going to go out there and do that."

The Rockies put themselves in what looked to be a potentially irrecoverable hole by opening the season 3-12, a stretch that ended with eight straight losses from Apr. 5-13. but Colorado has gone 29-17 since then -- including 13-11 against teams that entered Thursday with a record of .500 or better -- to climb back into the playoff race.

The Rockies had an eight-game winning streak snapped Tuesday, but it was a 9-8 loss on Wednesday -- when they trailed by five runs in the seventh inning before leaving the tying run on base in the ninth -- that signified the doggedness that made Colorado's surge possible.

"We have the winning run at the plate in the ninth inning, in a game that looked like it was going to go the other way, but we fought back," Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters Wednesday night. "The resiliency of this team is really impressive. That's how we do it."

The right-handed deGrom didn't factor into the decision in his most recent start last Saturday night, when he gave up one run over 6 2/3 innings in the Mets' 6-5, 11-inning loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was the third straight no-decision for deGrom, who has a 2.04 ERA in that span.

Senzatela earned the win on Sunday, when he allowed one run over six innings as the Rockies beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1. It was the fifth time in 10 starts this season in which Senzatela has allowed two runs or fewer.

DeGrom is 4-0 with a 1.02 ERA in six career starts against the Rockies. The ERA is the lowest deGrom has posted against any team he's opposed more than once. Senzatela tossed three scoreless innings of relief in his lone appearance against the Mets on Aug. 2, 2017, when New York earned a 10-5 win.

--Field Level Media