Major League Baseball
NY Mets 14, Colorado 9
When: 8:40 PM ET, Friday, August 21, 2015
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature: 89°
Umpires: Home - Ryan Blakney, 1B - Paul Schrieber, 2B - Fieldin Culbreth, 3B - Manny Gonzalez
Attendance: 31079

DENVER -- Even at Coors Field, where slugging performances are by no means rare, what Yoenis Cespedes accomplished Friday night was jaw-dropping.

Cespedes hit three home runs, and the New York Mets blew an early six-run lead before rebounding to beat the Colorado Rockies 14-9 Friday night.

Cespedes went 5-for-6, adding a double, seven RBIs and five runs as the Mets defeated the Rockies for the ninth consecutive time.

Catcher Travis d'Arnaud and left fielder Michael Conforto hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning to boost the Mets' lead to 12-8. New York hit five homers in a game for the first time since Sept. 5, 2014, at Cincinnati.

Cespedes tied a franchise record with his three homers and set career highs in homers, hits, RBIs and runs.

"He's a special talent," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

The center fielder hit a grand slam in the second inning and a solo shot in the fourth. He belted two-run homer in the sixth to give the Mets a 10-8 lead after the Rockies fought back from a 7-1 deficit in the second to tie the score at 8 in the fifth.

With a chance for a fourth homer, Cespedes singled in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Cespedes lined a ball to right-center that seemed headed for the gap, but right fielder Carlos Gonzalez made a nice running catch.

"I thought the last ball had a shot, and now you just can't wait to see what he's going to do tomorrow," Collins said.

Cespedes wasn't thinking about a fourth homer, his sights set instead on hitting for the cycle.

"All I had in my mind is go to third," Cespedes said with bullpen coach Ricky Bones translating. "I was trying to hit a triple."

Cespedes has five homers with the Mets and 21 overall this season, counting his time with the Detroit Tigers before he was traded to New York for two minor league pitchers on July 31.

The grand slam was part of a six-run second inning in which the Mets took a 7-1 lead and chased Colorado rookie Jon Gray. The right-hander gave up seven runs on eight hits in 1 2/3 innings in his fourth career start. Gray allowed one hit and one run in six innings when he faced the Mets in New York two starts ago.

"There was no command of the fastball at all today," Gray said, "and it's a little tough to get outs when that's what you pitch off of. It was just bad. I don't think I got ahead of any guys tonight. I had plenty of chances to get myself out of situations, and I just didn't make the pitches."

The Mets earned just their second win in six games. They increased their lead in the National League East to five games over the Washington Nationals, who lost 10-3 at home to the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Rockies absorbed their ninth loss in 11 games despite hitting three home runs. They used six pitchers, all of whom allowed runs.

Christian Friedrich (0-4) was the losing pitcher after giving up Cespedes' third homer.

Sean Gilmartin (2-1), who relieved starter Bartolo Colon in the fourth, earned the victory, allowing one run in 2 1/3 innings.

Colon was hit on the right wrist by a pitch from Gray in the second. He stayed in the game and allowed nine hits and seven runs in 3 2/3 innings.

"It did affect me a little bit," Colon, speaking through Bones, said of his wrist, which was badly swollen. "But that is not an excuse. It had nothing to do with my performance."

Colon said he underwent an X-ray but had not received the results.

After trailing by six runs in the second, the Rockies tied the score 8-8 in the fifth on a triple by catcher Nick Hundley.

Third baseman Nolan Arenado, who went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, had blasted a three-run homer with two outs in the fourth that trimmed the Mets' lead to 8-7 and ended Colon's start. The homer was No. 30 this season for Arenado.

Gonzalez hit his 29th homer of the season and 16th after the All-Star break in the first inning, and first baseman Ben Paulsen hit his ninth homer in the second. Arenado, Gonzalez and Paulsen combined for six RBIs, one fewer than Cespedes.

"Tough to keep him down for long," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said of Cespedes. "He's got big-time power. We saw it on display tonight. It's just a matter of time before he gets rolling over there, and he certainly did tonight."

NOTES: LHP Dario Alvarez was on his way from Triple-A Las Vegas after the game and will be activated by the Mets on Saturday. ... Mets 1B Lucas Duda's back locked up, causing him to leave the game after the seventh. He will be re-evaluated Saturday, and manager Terry Collins said a decision will have to be made whether to put Duda on the disabled list ... Mets RHP Logan Verrett will make his first major league start Sunday. He takes the turn of RHP Matt Harvey, who the team will skip for one start to limit his innings to 190 in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Harvey has pitched 154 innings this year. ... RHP Chad Bettis rejoined the Rockies after throwing 67 pitches in five scoreless innings Thursday night for Triple-A Albuquerque in his second rehab start. The Rockies will decide whether he needs another rehab start to build up his pitch count or is ready to return to their rotation. ... Mets 3B David Wright (spinal stenosis) went 3-for-4 in a rehab game Friday for Class A St. Lucie and will play with that team Saturday. He is due to be activated by the Mets on Monday at Philadelphia.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Mets   Colorado
Bartolo Colon Player Jonathan Gray
No Decision W/L No Decision
3.2 IP 1.2
1 Strikeouts 0
9 Hits 8
17.18 ERA 37.80
Hitting
NY Mets   Colorado
Yoenis Cespedes Player Nick Hundley
5 Hits 3
7 RBI 1
3 HR 0
15 TB 6
.833 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Mets 16 5 34 .381 12 3 14 4 2 1
Colorado 13 3 28 .342 13 7 9 3 2 0