The New York Mets were four outs away from a potentially costly defeat Friday night. As it turns out, they are pretty comfortable in those situations, too.
Fresh off their latest comeback victory, the Mets will look to record a series win on Saturday when they host the Rockies in the third contest of a four-game set.
New York's David Peterson (6-3, 3.44 ERA) is slated to start against Colorado's Kyle Freeland (7-8, 4.93) in a battle of left-handers.
The Mets squandered a pair of leads Friday before Mark Canha laced a game-tying two-run double in the eighth inning and Pete Alonso delivered a walk-off RBI single in the ninth in a 7-6 win.
The Mets led 3-0 and 4-3 before Elias Diaz put the Rockies ahead for the first time in the series with a two-out, three-run double off Mychal Givens in the eighth. Carlos Estevez struck out the first two batters he faced in the bottom half before Darin Ruf reached on an error by third baseman Ryan McMahon.
Jeff McNeil followed with a single before Canha produced his third big hit of the week. The Mets overcame four- and three-run deficits Sunday afternoon, when Canha hit the game-tying three-run homer in the seventh inning and the go-ahead two-run blast in the ninth of a 10-9 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The comeback win Friday was the 26th of the season for the first-place Mets, who remained two games ahead of the surging Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
"I think there's just that general feeling in the dugout when it's crunch time," Canha said. "Nothing needs to be said. It's just kind of looking around (and saying), 'OK, time to go to work here and finish this game.' Whether it goes in our favor or not, we're going to play until the last out's made and we're going to keep grinding until the end."
Diaz's go-ahead hit put a rare road win within the Rockies' grasp and allowed manager Bud Black to set up his bullpen so that his two best relievers - Estevez and closer Daniel Bard - could pitch the eighth and ninth.
Instead, the Rockies lost for the ninth time in 12 games overall and fell to a major league-worst 18-41 away from home.
"That was an emotional rollercoaster for both sides, right?" Black said. "That was a tough one. We thought we were in position with a couple of our better pitchers out there. But the Mets had some good at-bats."
Peterson took the loss last Saturday, when he gave up three runs over 4 2/3 innings in a 4-1 setback to the Phillies.
Freeland didn't factor into the decision against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday after surrendering six runs (five earned) over 6 1/3 innings.
Peterson, who grew up in the Denver suburb of Aurora, lost his lone start against the Rockies on May 24, 2021. He surrendered three runs over six innings in the Rockies' 3-2 win.
Freeland is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Mets.
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