DENVER — Terry Collins bounded from the visitors dugout, his face already red, even before he raised his voice at home plate umpire Carlos Torres. It was that kind of night.
The outline of the Mets’ 7-4 loss to the Rockies on Saturday night had long been written by the time an enraged Collins went looking for a fight.
Starter Logan Verrett committed a cardinal sin at Coors Field, issuing a pair of free passes, including one with the bases loaded to force in a run in what became a game-defining third inning. But Torres pushed the Mets over the ledge with what replays showed was a blown call.
Verrett thought he had struck out catcher Tony Wolters. And with opposing pitcher Eddie Butler on deck, the Mets righty would have positioned himself to limit the damage to just one run.
Had Verrett stemmed the tide, the Mets would have faced only a 3-1 deficit, leaving plenty of time to spare themselves from their third straight loss and their fourth defeat in five games.
But Torres ruled that the pitch was tipped foul. Given a second chance, Wolters pounded a two-run double to right-center. It was the fuel that the Rockies used to produce a five-run third inning.
A fuming Collins watched from the bowels of Coors Field, still smarting from the ejection. A few days before, the manager lamented that expanded replay had done away with arguing with umpires.
He scratched that itch with Torres. Replays showed that Wolter’s swing did not alter the path of Verrett’s pitch, nor did it change the spin of the ball, proof that it was indeed not tipped.
However, such plays are not reviewable, leaving Collins to take out his frustrations on the umpires. Torres listened to the torrent of words from the manager’s mouth, even as Collins’ hand gestures got more and more forceful. Eventually, it was enough.
Torres tossed Collins, who kept up his barrage until the umpire finally turned his back and walked away. With Collins watching from the clubhouse, Charlie Blackmon roped a two-run single, adding to the misery.
Verrett, who pitched well in a spot start here last season, was charged for seven runs on 10 hits in 2 2⁄3 innings. The Rockies sent 10 men to the plate in the third and left the Mets to claw back from a 7-1 deficit.
Even in a near gravity-free environment, it proved to be a tall task for a Mets offense that entered play hitting just .195 in the first nine games of the road trip.
In the fourth, Neil Walker homered for the first time since April 27th. In the sixth, the Mets pushed across two more runs with help from Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda to slice the deficit to three runs.
With two outs, Kevin Plawecki walked and Juan Lagares delivered a pinch-hit single, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Curtis Granderson.
But former Met Gonzalez Germen got Granderson to bounce a harmless one-hopper to second base to end the threat.
With the loss, the Mets dropped their first series since losing two of three to the Marlins in the middle of April. The Mets fell to 4-6 on their West Coast swing, ensuring a losing mark in their 11-game road trip.
..... - Newsday