Rockies Out-Slug Mets In Game 3; Wagner Chokes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Mets 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 8 15 1
Rockies 0 0 4 0 1 3 0 0 2 10 14 1


You had to know that this domination of the Rockies batting order couldn't go on forever. Not after the lucky tear the Rockies went on to get to the post season to begin with.

Last night, back home in the friendly confines of Coors Field, the Rockies finally struck back.


No ace when you need him, Glavine contemplates a breakfast of grits when he gets home.

Mets starter Tom Glavine was battered over five innings for 10 hits and 7 runs although it wasn't until the 3rd inning that the deluge began in earnest.

Prior to that the Mets looked as though they were going for the jugular in Game 3, pouncing on Colorado starting pitcher rookie Ubaldo Jimenez for a pair of runs in both the first and second innings for a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the first, Luis Castillo once again ignited a rally, singling with one out before stealing second and scoring on Moises Alou's single. David Wright scored when Todd Helton made a rare error allowing Carlos Delgado to reach base.

After Glavine allowed Matsui to single, he set the Rockies down in order in the first.

In the second the Mets scored another pair when three straight singles scored a run and set up David Wright's RBI double to stretch the Mets lead to 4-0.

A pair of walks in the 3rd, a single, an error by Alou and a two-run homer by Brad Hawpe evened the score and brought the crowd of 50,724 to their feet in a frenzy. Glavine battled on to finish the inning but he was finally gone after the 5th when he let yet another Met lead slip away, walking Garrett Atkins and then letting a pair of two-out singles by such luminaries as Ryan Spilborghs and Yorvit Torrealba spell his demise.

"I still enjoy pitching," Glavine said of his questionable performance. "I enjoy that day when I go out there but I really miss my first love, Atlanta and I miss seeing all those tomahawk chops and I miss looking up into the stands and seeing Confederate flags waving even though I'm a New Englander by birth." Glavine would not comment on his future as a Met but hinted that he'd like to be around to pitch in the World Series this season, even if he had to wear a Mets uniform to do it.

The fun wasn't obver of course.


Four hits weren't enough to save the Mets from their closer

The Mets scored another pair of runs in the 6th behind a David Wright triple that scored Castillo's second run of the game and a wild pitch by Matt Herges made the score 7-5 in the Mets favour. Wright had another MVP performance with four hits in 5 trips to the plate and a pair of RBIs but in the end, it wasn't enough to overcome the Mets bullpen.

Glavine warily came out for the 6th and managed to last only two batters, giving up a quick double to Matsui and an RBI single to Troy Tulowitzki before Willie yanked him, bringing his beloved Guillermo Mota into the game.

After a brief discussion on the mound and what looked like a delicate moment of hand holding with Willie, Mota gave up a Matt Holliday single before miraculously retiring Helton on a weak pop up but by then, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and still only one out, Willie whistled Jorge Sosa into the game.

Sosa immediately gave up a two-run single to Atkins that gave the Rockies a daunting 8-7 lead before settling down a little late and retiring the next 6 Rockies in order.

"The run-scoring single was unfortunate, but once Jorge settled down, he kept us in the game," Willie remarked of his bullpen selection.

In the 9th, the Mets finally answered against the Rockies bullpen in an attempt to close out the series once and for all. Carlos Beltran led off with a double and the Rockies went to Manny Corpas to kill the game.

Corpas struck out Delgado before surrendering an RBI double to Alou that tied the game and sending Mets hopes into delusions of grandeur but he retired Lo Duca and Milledge in order to keep the game even going into the bottom of the 9th which has been the Rockies' rallying point all season.

For the first time in 26 innings Willie finally summoned Billy Wagner from the pen.

Wagner has undergone intense media scrutiny for his stiff back and inappopriate closing performances over the last month but of course one of the other reasons he was rotting in the pen was for criticizing d Willie Randolph's usage of the bullpen and said pitching coach Rick Peterson "has no experience talking to a bullpen."

He came out in the bottom of the 9th with orders to hold the lead and promptly walked Spilborghs. Torrealba bunted him to second and Jeff Baker, a .222 hitter was brought up to pinch hit. Baker hit the second pitch over the left field fence to give the Rockies a 10-8 victory.

Wagner hung his head and his teammates ignored him, walking off the field in a barely disguisable fury.


Before the odd backdrop of palm trees in Denver which were cultivated in a humidor, Billy Wagner considers which was more depressing, the two-run homer he surrendered to a .222 hitter to blow the game or his rapid hair loss.

"I don't want to comment on Billy Wagner's performance tonight," Willie commented after the game. "All I'll say is it took 5 guys to hold Peterson back from attacking him in the locker room after the game."

From here on in, the Mets fans are praying, every lead will be at least a dozen going into the 9th but for now, the Mets are still hanging on to a 2 games to 1 lead and the hope of meeting the Diamondbacks in the NLCS.