Coors Field lived up to its reputation Saturday night with an offensive show despite the New York Mets sending a three-time Cy Young Award winner to the mound.
Tylor Megill doesn’t have Justin Verlander’s resume, but he’ll try to pitch New York to a road-series win against the Colorado Rockies when the right-hander takes the mound Sunday in Denver.
Megill (5-3, 4.32 ERA) will match up against Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber (4-4, 6.48) for the second time this month.
The Mets won 5-2 on Friday night, and Colorado answered with a 10-7 win on Saturday night in a game that featured three home runs.
Despite the loss, New York has surged to a winning record over the past two weeks and has received contributions from different players.
Pete Alonso and Francisco Alvarez provided the firepower with a home run apiece on Saturday, but rookie Mark Vientos quietly had a solid game. He had two hits to raise his batting average to .211 and has been platooning with Daniel Vogelbach at designated hitter, so his opportunities since his May 17 call-up have been sporadic.
Vientos said he has been trying to absorb knowledge since joining the Mets.
“I’ve been here for a week-and-a-half, just asking the guys questions and stuff and just watching the game, learning. That’s pretty much it,” Vientos said. “Unfortunately, not playing, but still got to get better in some way and be ready. Because when the opportunity comes, I got to be ready for it.”
Megill usually has a tough act to follow when pitching after Verlander and Max Scherzer. That said, he will be relied upon to hold down the Rockies.
Megill has faced them only once, and that came May 6 in New York. He took the loss after allowing three runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Gomber has faced the Mets three times in his career, posting a 2-1 record with a 2.57 ERA in those starts. He got the decision in New York on May 6 after allowing two runs in six innings.
With a win on Sunday, Colorado will finish its homestand with a 5-2 mark. The Rockies have scored five or more runs in their four wins this week and have seen Ryan McMahon start to swing the bat well.
McMahon has home runs in each of the last two games after not going deep since April 21. His two-run shot Saturday put his team ahead for good.
He is 5-for-11 with four RBIs and three runs in the last three games.
“It just feels good to help contribute,” McMahon said after Saturday night’s win. “It’s been a long time coming, been putting in a lot of work, so it feels good to pay off a little bit.”
McMahon and Charlie Blackmon are the two hitters remaining from the last Colorado team to reach the postseason, which happened in 2017 and 2018. McMahon took over at third base after Elehuris Montero struggled and was sent to Triple-A Albuquerque in April.
–Field Level Media
