Bo Bichette seems to like batting leadoff for the New York Mets.
Good thing, because the Mets are going to be without their usual leadoff hitter for a while.
Bichette and the Mets will look to continue building a winning streak Friday night when New York hosts the Colorado Rockies in the opener of a three-game series.
Freddy Peralta (1-2, 4.05 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against the Rockies’ Michael Lorenzen (1-2, 7.48) in a battle of right-handers.
The Mets and Rockies were on the opposite ends of 10-8 scores as the host team in the rubber matches of three-game series Thursday. New York outlasted the Minnesota Twins, while Colorado fell to the San Diego Padres.
Bichette went 3-for-5 on Thursday, when his three-run eighth-inning double snapped a 7-7 tie and helped the Mets avoid an ugly loss.
New York, which ended a 12-game losing streak on Wednesday, squandered a 7-2 lead on Thursday. The Mets then nearly frittered away the advantage again in the ninth, when Devin Williams gave up an RBI single to Tristan Gray before he ended the game by striking out Trevor Larnach with the potential tying run in scoring position.
The Mets won the same day Francisco Lindor, the team’s regular leadoff man, went on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left calf sustained Wednesday night.
“It’s hard to (establish) a timetable,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said regarding Lindor’s absence, “but we do know that he’s going to be down for a while.”
Fortunately for the Mets, Bichette appears to be warming up after a slow start. The 28-year-old third baseman, who signed with New York in January, went 1-for-4 as the leadoff hitter on Wednesday, when Mendoza shuffled the lineup and batted Lindor fourth.
The three hits Thursday tied a season high for Bichette, who has collected a hit in seven of his past eight games to raise his average to .238 — only the third time this season that he ended a game batting higher than .230.
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with (being first in the lineup),” said Bichette, a career .282 hitter when batting leadoff. “I felt good today.”
The Rockies appeared to be on the verge of a feel-good victory on Thursday and their second straight winning homestand to start the season when they carried an 8-5 lead into the ninth inning. However, closer Victor Vodnik, who got the final out of the eighth, gave up five runs in the ninth, including Gavin Sheets’ go-ahead three-run homer.
Colorado finished 3-4 on a homestand that included a split of a four-game series with the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Rockies, who went 4-2 on their first homestand of the season against the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros, had a 25-56 home mark last year, when they finished a franchise-worst 43-119.
The Rockies are 10-16 this season, which puts them ahead of only the Mets (9-16) and the Philadelphia Phillies (8-17) in the National League but well ahead of the pace they set last year, when Colorado didn’t record its 10th win until June 2.
“It’s been a year so far with a lot of highs and some lows,” said Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak, who went 4-for-5 with two homers on Thursday. “Now it’s just going to be about finding that consistent high and figuring out ways to win baseball games.”
Peralta took the defeat in his most recent start, when he gave up three runs over 5 2/3 innings as the Mets fell 4-2 to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. He is 4-2 with a 3.49 ERA in eight career games (seven starts) against the Rockies.
Lorenzen didn’t factor into the decision Sunday after allowing three runs over five innings in the Rockies’ 9-6 win over the Dodgers. He owns a 2-1 record and a 2.61 ERA with two saves in 16 games (four starts) vs. the Mets.
–Field Level Media
