DENVER — When he starts Wednesday against the New York Mets Auston Matthews Jersey , Chad Bettis will try to build off his last game for the Colorado Rockies, one that included a deceptively bad pitching line that masked an abrupt turnaround.
On Friday at Texas, Bettis (5-1, 4.65) gave up five runs in the first inning, including two two-run homers on badly located breaking pitches. But Bettis went on to pitch 4 2/3 scoreless innings, a span in which he allowed two singles and retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced with six strikeouts.
The Rockies erupted for six runs in the second and went on to win 9-5 and give Bettis his first victory after six straight no-decisions. He had not won since May 5 at Citi Field when he worked seven scoreless innings against the Mets.
“It didn’t surprise me what he did (against the Rangers) because he’s tenacious,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He doesn’t back down. He doesn’t quit. And I think he knew there was a long way to go. I think it naturally energized him when we got six runs in the top of the next inning.”
Before that uprising, Black said Bettis could have caved in and accepted that it wasn’t his night.
“The good ones don’t let that happen,” Black said. “He knew that there were four or five more innings for him to stay out there, especially in that American League game. That showed me a lot that he put up zeros for 4 2/3 (innings).”
Bettis, who is 1-0, 4.05 in three starts against the Mets, will be trying to finally win at Coors Field this year where he is 0-0, 7.76 in six starts. He will take the mound after the Rockies beat the Mets 10-8 Tuesday night to even the four-game series and break an eight-game losing streak at Coors Field. The win was just the fifth in 18 games for the Rockies, who are 12-20 at Coors Field, where they have typically dominated.
“Overall we haven’t pitched well here for whatever reason Connor Brown Jersey ,” Black said. “We got to do that. We got to make pitches. It doesn’t matter where we play, we got to pitch well. And what’s happening here at home is the other team is making better pitches than us over the course of 150, 180 pitches.”
Bettis will be opposed by Seth Lugo (2-2, 2.49), who will be making his Coors Field debut and is 1-1, 3.00 in three starts this season with one walk and 18 strikeouts in 15 innings. Lugo is 1-0, 3.55 in three games, including one start, against the Rockies.
The Mets’ three-game winning streak ended Tuesday as they lost for the 13th time in 17 games and fell to 14-30 since May 1.
The Mets put outfielder Jay Bruce on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to Monday with right hip soreness after he missed a fourth start in five days and sent him back to New York for an MRI. Dominic Smith, a first baseman by trade, played left field Tuesday, and Mets manager Mickey Callaway said Smith, who began playing the outfield last month for Triple-A Las Vegas and entered Friday’s game in Arizona as the left fielder, would receive work at that position as the Mets go with four outfielders.
To replace Bruce, they recalled Tim Peterson, wanting an extra reliever with three games left in the series at hitter-friendly Coors Field. Peterson threw 19 pitches in two perfect innings Tuesday. The Mets will re-evaluate their roster before beginning a Friday series at home with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Mets outfield corps now includes Smith and Jose Bautista along with regulars Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto. Callaway said Wilmer Flores Bruce Smith Jersey , who has had outfield experience, would stay at first base, leaving Smith and Bautista as the primary options in left field.
“We won’t hesitate to put Dom out there like we did today,” Callaway said, “but Bautista, who has been having great at-bats and playing pretty well in the outfield for us will get some playing time as well.”
A look at what’s happening around the majors Friday:
TEXAS STORY
Colorado shortstop Trevor Story gets to play a big league game near home for the first time when the Rockies open an interleague series Friday night at the Texas Rangers, in a stadium only a few miles from his hometown of Irving, Texas. The Rockies last played at Texas in 2016, which was Story’s standout rookie season. But Story, the 45th overall pick in the 2011 draft out of Irving High, suffered a season-ending left thumb injury about two weeks before that series. Another Texas native starts the opener for the Rockies in right-hander Chad Bettis (4-1), who is from Lubbock and went to Texas Tech. He got a no decision in the Rockies’ 12-9 win during that August 2016 series when he allowed five runs in five innings.
ACES UP
Two of the National League’s top pitchers this season will face off when the Chicago Cubs open a weekend series at the St. Louis Cardinals. Jon Lester (7-2) takes the mound for the Cubs, who are coming off two straight losses at Milwaukee, and the left-hander is fourth in the NL in ERA (2.22). Michael Wacha, meanwhile, is 8-1 and seventh in the league with a 2.47 ERA – providing a much-needed boost for a Cardinals team that’s 4-5 in its last nine games against Miami Frederik Andersen Jersey , Cincinnati and San Diego.
BACK IN TOWN
Nathan Eovaldi (1-1) takes the ball for the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium, his fourth outing since becoming the 12th pitcher to start a major league game following multiple Tommy John surgeries. Eovaldi pitched for the Yankees from 2015-16, going 14-3 for them in 2015, but has never faced New York. ”I wish I would have been able to finish on a healthy note. Other than that, I really enjoyed my time there,” Eovaldi said.
Jonathan Loaisiga comes up from Double-A Trenton to make his big league debut for the Yankees, starting in place of injured Masahiro Tanaka. The 23-year-old Loaisiga, from Nicaragua, returned to the mound last year from Tommy John surgery. ”Super excited. This is a great opportunity the Yankees are giving me,” Loaisiga said through a translator. ”It’s been a tough road for me to get here and now it’s about enjoying this moment.”
GIO WATCH
Gio Gonzalez (6-2, 2.65 ERA) had his worst start of the season in his last outing, allowing four runs in 3 1/3 innings against the San Francisco Giants last week. The Washington Nationals left-hander will return to the mound when he makes an interleague start against the Toronto Blue Jays.
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