DENVER - GAME RECAPS

May 7th - New York Mets 10 Colorado 9 - Attendance 34,644.

A high-scoring game was in the offing as Dicki Gonzalez of the Mets, in his second start since being recalled,  took on Brian Bohanon of the Rockies. The first inning was scoreless, but in the second, the Mets got going, with a walk and a double by Jay Payton. Tsuyoshi Shinjo followed with a run-scoring single and Rey Ordonez plated another with a double of his own to make it 2-0.

In the third, Bohanon was amazing, giving up six straight singles before being pulled. Shinjo was the first batter to face reliever John Wasdin, and he promptly smacked a bases-loaded double, giving the Mets an 8-0 lead. He eventually scored on Benny Agbayani's second hit of the inning, and the Mets led 9-0 after 4 innings.

It looked over, but as any fan knows, Coors is a park where it is best to stay until the last out. Today was no different. The Rockies began their comeback in the 5th with 3 singles and 3 doubles to get 5 runs. It was still 8-5 in the ninth when Mike Piazza hit a 1-out homer for the Mets, extending the lead to 4 runs. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Mets' closer Armando Benitez came in and quickly gave up hits to Neifi Perez and Larry Walker. Todd Helton followed with a 3-run shot and suddenly the game was 10-8. After an out, Todd Hollandsworth singled, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch. Todd Walker grounded out to the pitcher, but pinch-hitter Brooks Kieschnick singled with two out and the Rockies were within 1. Benitez remained in the game to face pinch-hitter Brent Mayne. With the count full, Benitez blew a pitch past Mayne and the game was suddenly over, 10-9 Mets.

Shinjo warms up  

This looked like a boring game after the 9-0 lead, but the ninth inning was the best we've seen. As well, Shinjo had 4 RBI's and Piazza homered, so we give this game an 8/10.    Piazza poses

July 6th - Anaheim 6 Colorado 5 - Attendance 50,403.

A sold-out crowd was on hand for the fireworks show after the game, but the Rockies, mired in a miserable slump, were unable to explode themselves. All-Star Mike Hampton was on the mound against Ramon Ortiz, but it was Ortiz who pitched like the All-Star. After a scoreless first, Garrett Anderson led off the second with a single and Shawn Wooten hit the first pitch he saw for a massive home run to give the Angels a quick 2-0 lead. Two batters later, Jeff Davanon did the same and it was suddenly 3-0 Halos.

The Rockies narrowed the lead in the 3rd on Larry Walker's 2-run double, but a walk and two singles in the Angel 4th made the score 4-2. In the 7th, Hampton walked lead-off batter Troy Glaus and Anderson singled. Hampton was taken out, but Jay Powell gave up two singles and a walk and it was 6-2. The fans became restless, but in their half of the 7th, the Rockies started their comeback with a 2-out rally capped by Walker's 2-run homer to right field. 

It was 6-5 for the Angels, but the Rockies couldn't muster anything off Al Levine in the 8th. In the 9th, Troy Percival came in and yielded a single to pinch hitter Terry Shumpert. After Brooks Kieschnick lined out to short (a spectacular play by David Eckstein) Juan Pierre was up. He lined a sinking fly ball to left that Anderson caught on the run for the second out. Unfortunately Shumpert misjudged the ball and had already run to second anticipating a hit - a quick throw back to first to complete the double play and the Angels won 6-5. The highlights of this game were some spectacular defensive plays by the Angels, which made the difference. But it wasn't that interesting overall, so it gets a 7/10.