DENVER — On a night the Mets needed a gunslinger to tame these torrid Rockies bats, they ended up with Bad Bart and a severe case of saddle soreness.
Bartolo Colon had absolutely nothing for the second time in four starts, and the Mets didn’t mount an offensive charge until it was too late in a 7-4 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field.
After consecutive gems by Dillon Gee and Jon Niese, the veteran Colon lasted only 4 ²/₃ innings in which he allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits, a walk and hit batsman.
The Mets (15-12) had a two-game winning streak snapped — and for just the fourth time in 27 games did not hold a lead. Travis d’Arnaud hit a three-run homer in the ninth to narrow the gap, but the Mets were otherwise flat offensively.
“This is a park you’ve got to make pitches or you’re going to get hurt here,” manager Terry Collins said. “And this was one of those nights where [Colon] just didn’t have his stuff.”
For Colon (2-4), it was an outing reminiscent of his start against the Angels on April 13, when he allowed nine earned runs over five innings. After that game it was revealed he had battled a sore upper back, but he rebounded with a decent performance in a loss to the Braves before beating the Cardinals last Thursday by allowing one run over seven innings.
Colon did not speak to reporters after the game — according to the Mets there were no suitable interpreters available — but told a team spokesman he couldn’t command his two-seam fastball.
The Rockies entered with a .346 batting average at home that ranked first in the major leagues and came out swinging against Colon, who was making his third career start at Coors Field. Nobody was hotter than Charlie Blackmon, who entered with a major-league best .374 batting average. But the big performance came from Corey Dickerson, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Juan Nicasio (3-1) mesmerized the Mets, allowing just three hits over seven shutout innings. Juan Lagares, just off the disabled list, banged a leadoff double against Nicasio, but the Mets managed just two singles against the right-hander over the next seven innings.
Lagares smashed an RBI double against reliever Chad Bettis in the eighth to get the Mets a run before d’Arnaud unloaded with a three-run blast in the ninth.
“I was so excited, happy to be out there,” Lagares said. “I’ve been waiting for that for two weeks. I just wanted to be ready to come back and thank God I feel good.”
Colon’s night was complete after allowing an RBI triple to Dickerson with two outs in the fifth that extended the Rockies’ lead to 7-0.
“Key pitches over the middle of the plate and their team has been swinging the bat real well,” d’Arnaud said. “They proved that tonight.”
The Rockies stormed to a 6-0 lead in the fourth, scoring three runs as Colon struggled with his command and loaded the bases. Nicasio’s third RBI of the game, on a sacrifice fly, gave the Rockies their first run in the inning before Blackmon delivered a run-scoring single and Nolan Arenado brought home another with a sacrifice fly.
Nicasio’s two-run single in the second gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead. The rally started with two outs, when Dickerson and Charlie Culberson singled in succession. Nicasio followed with a shot into the right-field corner that scored both runs.
Carlos Gonzalez’s solo homer with two outs in the first gave the Rockies their first run. Gonzalez was removed from the game for a pinch-hitter in the fourth, and it was later announced that he has a left index finger contusion.