Rockies crumble late, lose second game of series to Mets following Victor Vodnik’s messy ninth inning

After Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner lasted just one inning on Wednesday, the Rockies bullpen picked him up in a performance that was superb — until the final moment.

The Colorado relievers held the Mets in check for most of the second game of the series, but rookie right-hander Victor Vodnik wilted in the ninth, yielding three decisive runs in a 5-3 defeat at Coors Field.

“The bullpen pitched well until the ninth, and pitched well (Tuesday in a 6-3 win),” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “When you go to the bullpen so early, in this case, we used six relievers. To win this game, they all would’ve had to pitch well. We got really close, but we didn’t get it done. We had a couple opportunities offensively too, and we didn’t capitalize.”

In the opening frame, Feltner wasn’t sharp as the Mets dinged him for a run. Francisco Lindor led off with a single, then stole second. That continued a troubling trend for Feltner’s slow delivery with men on base, as the pitcher has given up more steals than any pitcher in the National League.

With two outs, Pete Alonso then singled Lindor home, and Alonso stole second before Feltner got Jeff McNeil to pop out to end the threat.

Feltner was pulled from the game due to a shoulder/upper lat issue and will likely go on the injured list, according to Black.

“I was a little more sore than normal after my last start,” Feltner said. “I thought it would go away, thought it would get a little better, but I felt it again tonight. Lat soreness. I wanted to try to (push through), but it was one of those things where it was getting worse, and I didn’t want to make it worse than worse. It was tightening up on me.”

The Rockies quickly squared the game in the bottom of the first inning, using Ezequiel Tovar’s solo homer off Paul Blackburn to make it 1-1. Tovar’s 434-foot homer to center careened off the top of the Bridich Barrier and into the New York bullpen for the shortstop’s 19th dinger of the year. It was Tovar’s fourth homer over his last seven games at home.

The visitors retook the lead in the second off long-man Noah Davis. Tyrone Taylor’s single scored ex-Rockie José Iglesias, who stopped around third, then started again, when Brenton Doyle bobbled the ball in center field on a play that was ruled an error.

Both pitchers settled in a bit after that, before Colorado tied the game 2-2 in the fourth on an infield single by Kris Bryant. That scored Brendan Rodgers, who led off with double.

And there the game would stay until the final inning, as both pitching staffs settled in.

Blackburn finished with two runs over six innings for the Mets, striking out six Rockies, while Davis was effective with three scoreless innings following the second. Recent addition Chasen Shreve threw a scoreless sixth in his Colorado debut, Angel Chivilli put up a zero in the seventh and Tyler Kinley did the same in the eighth.

“I flipped back into starter mode, which is something I’m comfortable with,” Davis said. “I got in and attacked the zone, didn’t try to do too much, and got some quick outs to get us deeper into the game.”

Meanwhile, the Mets bullpen was also effective as right-hander José Butto blanked the Rockies in the seventh and eighth.

But the pitching duel came unglued for Colorado in the ninth.

In that frame, Francisco Alvarez hit a one-out triple on a 3-0 count off Vodnik off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field and Ben Gamel followed with a walk. That prompted a “Let’s Go Mets” chant from the blue-and-orange faithful on hand, and Vodnik responded with another walk, this time to Taylor.

That brought New York’s leadoff man and all-star shortstop to the dish, and Lindor delivered with a two-RBI, opposite-field single on the first pitch he saw to make it 4-2. Jesse Winker followed with another hit, pushing the score to 5-2 and earning Vodnik the hook.

“It’s one of those (outings) that I’ve just got to let go,” Vodnik said. “I was trying to be a little too fine tonight and got behind in counts that I should’ve been ahead of, and I let it get away from me.”

Michael Toglia led off the ninth with a triple off Edwin Diaz, that like Alvarez’s hit ricocheted off the out-of-town scoreboard. But it was too late for a comeback, even after Jake Cave’s RBI groundout cut the deficit to two.

The Mets tallied their 17th last at-bat win of the season, tied with the Dodgers for the most such wins in the majors.

Thursday’s pitching matchup

Mets LHP David Peterson (5-1, 3.47 ERA) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (3-6, 4.66)

1:10 p.m. Thursday, Coors Field

TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM

In a showdown between southpaws, Peterson returns home. The Regis Jesuit alum is submitting another solid season, bouncing back from the 5.03 ERA he posted last year. In two starts against the Rockies, he is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA, but has never pitched at Coors Field. He’s coming off a quality start against the Angels, with two earned runs in six innings, an outing in which he induced 13 groundball outs. Current Rockies haven’t seen much of him, although Elias Diaz and Ryan McMahon both have homers off him. For Gomber, his performance has been hit-and-miss lately. But in his last outing, he looked solid, throwing seven innings of two-run ball against the Padres. The blemishes in that performance were a pair of solo homers. He’s been a good pitcher in LoDo this year, with a 3.83 ERA in nine starts compared to a 5.37 ERA in 12 starts on the road.

Pitching probables

Friday: Braves RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (4-5, 4.04) at Rockies TBA, 6:40 p.m.

Saturday: Braves LHP Max Fried (7-6, 3.40) at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (7-8, 4.56), 6:10 p.m.

Sunday: Braves TBA at Rockies TBA, 1:10 p.m.

Originally Published: August 7, 2024 at 9:40 p.m.