ROX PEN FANS 8 STRAIGHT IN ‘W’ OVER METS

Cuddyer’s 3-Run Blast in 7^th Turns Game Around

NEW YORK, Sept. 8 (AP) – Three members of the Colorado Rockies’ much-maligned bullpen combined to strike out eight consecutive batters and Michael Cuddyer’s three-run homer in the top of the seventh turned the game around in 5-2 victory over the New York Mets at Citi Field. The eight consecutive strikeouts set a new single-game high for the major league season, eclipsing the previous top mark of seven straight, held by four clubs.

Cuddyer’s home run came like a bolt out of the blue as it was the first hit allowed by Mets starter Jon Niese. Niese, who tossed the major league season’s first no-hitter back on May 11 against the Philles, took a hitless game into the seventh but saw it all rapidly fall apart.

The Mets took a 2-0 lead on the strength of single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Lucas Duda belted his 19^th home run of the year off Rockies starter Jordan Lyles with one out in the bottom of the fourth to break the scoreless deadlock and, in the fifth, Dilson Herrera led off with his first long ball of the season.

Niese retired the first 12 Colorado batters he faced, then walked Cuddyer to open the fifth before retiring another six straight. But he issued his second free pass of the game to Jason Rutledge leading off the top of the seventh. On a 2-0 pitch, Nolan Arenado grounded what looked like a possible double play ball to third but David Wright booted it. The error left runners on first and second with no outs and brought Cuddyer to the plate. He belted a 2-2 change-up from Niese into the left field seats; with one swing the no-hitter, the shutout and the lead were all history.

In the bottom of the sixth, Nick Masset had relieved Christian Friedrich with out and runners on first and second and proceeded to fan Wilmer Flores and Herrera to end the inning. That was the beginning of the strikeout streak for three members of the Rockies relief corps. Adam Ottavino took over in the bottom of the seventh and punched out Eric Campbell, Juan Lagares and Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Then, in the eighth, Ottavino struck out Wright to open the inning before being replaced by Rex Brothers who proceeded to fan Duda and Travis d’Arnaud.

In the top of the ninth, Colorado added a pair of insurance runs. With two outs and the bases empty, Carlos Torres walked Michael McKenry and Brandon Barnes followed with a base hit to left, leaving runners on first and second. Dario Alvarez replaced Torres, but Rafael Ynoa drew a walk to fill the bases. Matt McBride came on as a pinch hitter and Erik Goeddel came in for Alvarez, but McBride won the battle, drilling a single to right, scoring both McKenry and Barnes to put the Rockies ahead 5-2.

Matt Belisle came on in the ninth inning and saw the Rockies’ strikeout streak end at eight when Curtis Granderson grounded out to second. Unphased, Belisle retired the Mets in order to record his first save of the season.

9/8/2014, Col14-NYN14, Citi Field

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP

2014 Rockies 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 5 5 1 4 1

2014 Mets 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 6 1 6 0

Rockies AB R H BI AVG Mets AB R H BI AVG

Dickerson,Co lf 4 0 0 0 .338 Lagares cf 4 0 0 0 .274

Rutledge ss 3 1 0 0 .231 Nieuwenhuis lf 4 0 1 0 .217

Arenado 3b 4 1 0 0 .268 Wright,D 3b 4 0 0 0 .264

Cuddyer 1b 3 1 1 3 .291 Duda 1b 3 1 1 1 .234

Rosario c 0 0 0 0 .254 d'Arnaud,T c 4 0 1 0 .243

Stubbs cf 3 0 0 0 .257 Granderson rf 2 0 1 0 .218

Parker,K ph 1 0 0 0 .067 Flores ss 3 0 1 0 .288

McKenry c 3 1 1 0 .283 Tejada ph 1 0 0 0 .228

Belisle p 0 0 0 0 .000 Herrera,D 2b 4 1 1 1 .143

Barnes,B rf 4 1 1 0 .252 Niese p 2 0 0 0 .143

LeMahieu 2b 2 0 0 0 .242 Black p 0 0 0 0 .000

Ynoa ph 1 0 1 0 .364 Campbell ph 1 0 0 0 .295

Lyles p 1 0 0 0 .162 Torres,C p 0 0 0 0 .000

Paulsen ph 1 0 0 0 .267 Alvarez,D p 0 0 0 0 .000

Friedrich p 0 0 0 0 .000 Goeddel p 0 0 0 0 .000

Masset p 0 0 0 0 .000 32 2 6 2

Blackmon ph 1 0 0 0 .267

Ottavino p 0 0 0 0 .000

Brothers p 0 0 0 0 .000

McBride ph 1 0 1 2 .182

32 5 5 5

Rockies INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA

Lyles 5.0 5 2 2 2 2 77 47 4.49

Friedrich 0.1 1 0 0 1 1 15 7 7.13

Masset W 3-4 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 11 8 3.61

Ottavino H 16 1.1 0 0 0 0 4 19 13 2.35

Brothers H 17 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 9 6 6.94

Belisle S 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 13 9 6.64

9.0 6 2 2 3 11 144 90

Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA

Niese L 10-8 6.1 2 3 2 2 6 106 64 4.20

Black 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 8 5 2.05

Torres,C 1.2 1 2 2 1 2 37 21 2.27

Alvarez,D 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 9 5 0.00

Goeddel 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 4 3 0.00

9.0 5 5 4 4 9 164 98

Col: Paulsen batted for Lyles in the 6th

Ynoa batted for LeMahieu in the 7th

Blackmon batted for Masset in the 7th

Ynoa moved to 2b in the 7th

Parker,K batted for Stubbs in the 9th

McBride batted for Brothers in the 9th

Rosario inserted at c in the 9th

Parker,K moved to rf in the 9th

Barnes,B moved to cf in the 9th

McBride moved to 1b in the 9th

NYN: Campbell batted for Black in the 7th

Tejada batted for Flores in the 9th

E-Rutledge, Wright,D. 2B-Nieuwenhuis(7), d'Arnaud,T(22), Granderson(27).

HR-Cuddyer(7), Duda(19), Herrera,D(1). RBI-Cuddyer 3(24), McBride 2(3),

Duda(67), Herrera,D(1). SB-Cuddyer(1). K-Dickerson,Co 2, Rutledge, Cuddyer,

Stubbs 2, McKenry, Barnes,B, LeMahieu, Lagares, Nieuwenhuis 2, Wright,D,

Duda 2, d'Arnaud,T 2, Flores, Herrera,D, Campbell. BB-Rutledge, Cuddyer,

McKenry, Ynoa, Duda, Granderson 2.

GWRBI: Cuddyer

Temperature: 60, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 13 MPH.

Attendance: 12,587

Game Time: 3:25