Thursday, September 16, 1999
Mets 10, Rockies 5
BY AARON J. LOPEZ
AP Sports Writer
DENVER — Darryl Hamilton's run-scoring triple broke a tie in the eighth inning, as the New York Mets continued their playoff push with a 10-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
“I was definitely searching the last couple days,” said Hamilton, who had been 0-for-6 in the first two games of the series. “It was just getting that hit when we needed it and getting the runs we needed. This is a big game. Getting a win today was very, very important.”
New York stayed 21/2 games ahead of Cincinnati, which beat Chicago 5-4, in the wild-card race.
Hamilton, traded from Colorado to New York at the July 31 trading deadline, made sure the Mets didn't lose any ground when he hit a sinking line drive into right-center field off reliever Jerry Dipoto (4-5).
Right fielder Larry Walker's dive came up short, and the ball rolled 50 feet to the wall, allowing Robin Ventura to score easily from first.
“I hit it good, but anytime you hit a ball to right field, it's a big question mark because Walker's so good, he takes so many hits from you,” Hamilton said. “I started running hard, but when I saw him going after it, I was like, "Oh, God, here we go again.”'
Hamilton, who added an RBI single in a three-run ninth inning, scored on Benny Agbayani's sacrifice fly.
Mets reliever John Franco gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases in the Colorado eighth, but Armando Benitez came in and retired Dante Bichette on an easy ground ball to short. Benitez finished for his 21st save.
Bichette came to bat with runners on base five times, but went hitless. Overall, the Rockies stranded 12.
“We left too many guys on base,” Colorado manager Jim Leyland said. “It was unbelievable.”
Agbayani hit a two-run homer — his first since June 25 — to give the Mets a 5-4 lead in the sixth, but the Rockies tied it in the seventh.
Kurt Abbott led off the inning with a double that grazed the left-field foul line. Mets manager Bobby Valentine came out to argue after shortstop Rey Ordonez insisted there was no white paint on the ball.
Replays showed that third-base umpire Tony Randazzo made the correct call, and the Rockies tied the game on Vinny Castilla's two-out single off Turk Wendell (5-4).
New York recovered and finished its seven-game road trip 5-2.
“We ended three West Coast road trips that a lot of people said would put us on our knees,” Valentine said. “We're still standing — standing with our heads up high.”
New York starter Orel Hershiser gave up four runs and six hits in six innings. He struggled early, walking four, but worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and retired the final seven hitters he faced.
Ordonez and Rickey Henderson each had RBI doubles as the Mets took a 3-2 lead in the second. It was Henderson's 2,800th career hit, but it could have been scored an error because it bounced off the glove of first baseman Todd Helton.
The Rockies regained the lead in the fourth on Walker's two-out, two-run single.
Walker went 2-for-3 to raise his major league-leading average to .375.
NOTES: Neifi Perez's last three hits have been triples, and he tied his own Rockies record with his 10th triple of the season in the first. He also set the Colorado career record with 29 triples. ... Edgardo Alfonzo has scored 115 runs and is two short of Lance Johnson's club record set in 1996. ... New York's first four hits were doubles. ... Colorado OF Edgard Clemente got his first career assist when he threw out Shawon Dunston at home to end the fourth. ... Walker needs one plate appearance to reach 502 — the minimum for qualifying for the batting title. ... Rockies starter Brian Bohanon went six innings, marking the first time in six starts he didn't make it through seven. ... Abbott had his third career four-hit game. Two have come against the Mets.
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