New York Mets' Jose Iglesias gestures to teammates as he runs the bases after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Friday, July 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Iglesias and Harrison Bader each hit two of New York’s season-best five home runs, and the surging Mets held off the last-place Colorado Rockies 7-6 on Friday night.
Mark Vientos also went deep and drilled an RBI double as the Mets (48-45) improved to 4-0 on a six-game homestand against the struggling Nationals and Rockies leading into the All-Star break. New York has won six of seven overall, improving to 24-10 since it was 11 games under .500 on June 2.
“The ability to rebound is what this team has done extremely well,” Bader said. “It’s just a hungry group, again, on all sides of the ball.”
New York’s power parade had a giddy crowd of 28,852 buzzing and dancing at Citi Field, where the Mets play Iglesias’ catchy hit song “OMG” after every home run.
His music video was added to the mix on the giant scoreboard Friday, too.
“I got totally surprised,” Iglesias said. “So it was pretty cool.”
Sean Manaea (6-3) threw 74 of his season-high 107 pitches for strikes over seven effective innings, striking out nine to win his third straight decision.
“For him to go seven, that tells us he’s in a good spot not only physically but mentally,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Manaea left with a 7-3 lead, but New York’s shaky bullpen barely held on. Charlie Blackmon homered against Jake Diekman to start the eighth, and Brenton Doyle shaved it to 7-6 with a two-run shot off Phil Maton.
In between, Iglesias left his feet at third base to snare Elias Díaz’s 109.4 mph line drive, which got stuck in the webbing of his glove.
Edwin Díaz finally shut the door, working around consecutive two-out walks in a hitless ninth for his 10th save in 15 tries. With two runners aboard, he struck out Ezequiel Tovar to end it.
“That’s what we love about our guys is they don’t quit,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Good experience for all our guys. It was spirited, but in the end we just didn’t get it done.”
Brendan Rodgers also homered for Colorado to snap an 0-for-19 slump, and Michael Toglia had a two-run shot.
“It was a good fight,” Rodgers said. “That’s a really good closer. We battled.”
Mendoza was ejected by plate umpire Jeremie Rehak after a frustrated Iglesias got called out on strikes in the seventh.
The 34-year-old Iglesias, a surprising sparkplug for the Mets since they called him up from the minors May 31, launched solo shots in the second and fifth to reach 50 career homers with his first multi-homer game.
Bader hit a solo drive in the second and a two-run shot in the fourth for his second multi-homer game. The other one came with St. Louis in September 2019.
Both drives Friday came off rookie Tanner Gordon (0-2), who gave up four longballs in his second big league start. The right-hander allowed six runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.
Vientos and Iglesias hit consecutive homers in the second, the fourth time the Mets have gone back-to-back this season. Bader’s drive one batter later gave New York three home runs in an inning for the first time since July 1, 2023, against San Francisco.
“It’s just a really flexible lineup,” Bader said. “I think we just feed off of the information that we see up there. We’re very vocal in the dugout. Those are the best types of lineups. … Production anywhere is great, but obviously having it at the bottom of your lineup I think is pretty cool.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Germán Márquez threw a bullpen session and is scheduled to start Sunday in his return from Tommy John surgery. Márquez hasn’t pitched in the majors since April 26, 2023. … 1B/OF Kris Bryant (bruised left rib) took batting practice indoors and increased the intensity of his strength-and-conditioning workout. He is expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment next Friday, right after the All-Star break. … Blackmon returned to the lineup as the DH after missing three games with a sore right hamstring. … LF Nolan Jones (back tightness) was scratched from the lineup and replaced by Sam Hilliard.
Mets: RHP Sean Reid-Foley (shoulder impingement) will throw a bullpen Saturday. … RHP Shintaro Fujinami (shoulder strain) is scheduled to pitch in the minors again Sunday. “Maybe a couple more and then see where we’re at,” Mendoza said.
UP NEXT
Still in search of his first major league win, Mets rookie RHP Christian Scott (0-2, 4.15 ERA) makes his eighth career start Saturday in the middle game of the series. RHP Ryan Feltner (1-8, 5.29) goes for the Rockies.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer
This post was last modified on 07/12/2024 9:13 pm
