Mets 9, Rockies 6

It wasn't Steve Trachsel's prettiest start of the season, but he once again pitched well enough to give his team a chance to win, and this time it paid off in the W column for him. Trachsel went six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three. Those kind of numbers would have guaranteed him a loss in any of his recent starts given the paltry run support he's been getting. But tonight, the struggling New York offense managed to take some advantage of the thin Denver air and put nine runs on the board on eleven hits and five walks to get him a win.

Cliff Floyd was the offensive star for the Mets, hitting a pair of doulbes and a home run in five at bats, driving in four. Roberto Alomar managed to get one over the wall as well, but it was definitely a Coors Field kind of home run. Alomar also had a pair of walks and scored twice. Mike Piazza looked to be struggling somewhat at the plate, but still managed to produce three singles in four at bats, as well as getting hit by a pitch, raising his average to .310. Ty Wigginton only managed one hit in five at bats, but it was a triple with the bases loaded. And Joe McEwing continued to inexplicably get on base and play good defense at shortstop, going two for five and initiating a nice double play late in the game.

It was mostly the same old bullpen for the Mets and Mike Stanton gave up a pair of runs in two thirds of an inning, although one of those was a runner inherited by David Weathers scoring when Weathers failed to make a play on an easy chopper with the bases loaded. He seemed to lose it in the lights and completely missed it. Graeme Lloyd did manage to get in his second straight game and got two outs in two tries.

I was somewhat nervous about Armando Benitez appearing in this game. I mean, more than the standard Benitez-induced nervousness. I didn't think he and his propensity for giving up long fly balls would work out well in the thin air, but he got the job done tonight. He pitched a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout for his twelfth save of the season.

Are the 17-21 Mets out of their rut and back into the groove? Tomorrow, Tom Glavine (4-3, 3.67), in the unfamiliar position of starting in the midst of a winning streak, will try to keep it going against Shawn Chacon (4-2, 2.96) while the Met offense tries to keep rolling.  ¶ joe | 12:59 AM |