DENVER – Mike Pelfrey found fortune on the mound and at the plate.
Pelfrey hit a tiebreaking two-run double and limited the Rockies to three solo homers, helping the New York Mets to a 4-3 win over Colorado on Tuesday night.
"I'm terrible at the plate," Pelfrey said. "I went up there and I thought, 'Hey, I'm going to swing at the first pitch. I thought I might pull the ball (foul) but it was up and I couldn't get around in time and luckily it found a gap."
The Mets had lost all five of their games to the Rockies this season but finally put together a couple of rallies against their new nemesis to counter home runs by Troy Tulowitzki, Seth Smith and Carlos Gonzalez.
Despite the trio of long balls he served up, Pelfrey (3-3) allowed six hits over 6 2-3 innings and improved to 6-2 lifetime against the Rockies, who have lost seven of nine but remain atop the NL West. Pelfrey's outing was cut short by a nearly hour-long rain delay in the seventh inning.
Jason Hammel (3-2) entered the game with a 13-inning scoreless streak and the Mets promptly ended that, scoring two runs in the first inning on Ike Davis' two-run single.
Jose Reyes laced a leadoff double and Daniel Murphy followed with a single. Carlos Beltran drew a one-out walk to load the bases and Davis lined a single to center for a 2-0 lead.
After a visit from pitching coach Bob Apodaca, Hammel set down the next 10 batters, and the Rockies tied it in the second when Tulowitzki and Smith hit homers to right field, Tulo connecting on a 2-2 four-seamer for his ninth homer and Smith sending Pelfrey's split-finger fastball into the bullpen for his third home run.
Hammel was cruising along until Ronny Paulino's comebacker richocheted off his left calf for a two-out single in the fourth inning. Hammel walked around for a minute, then threw three practice pitches while a member of the team's medical staff, manager Jim Tracy and Apodaca looked on from the lip of the mound.
He stayed in but walked Jason Pridie before Pelfrey laced a double to right-center for his first hit of the year, driving in both runners and giving the Mets a 4-2 lead.
"Fastball down the middle just to get ahead and he ambushed me," Hammel said.
He added that it was impossible to put the injury out of his mind because it was to his landing leg. He said the pain didn't really intensify, however, until he left the game and his adrenaline wore off.
But what really bothered him was giving up the double to Pelfrey.
"It's got to be a better pitch than that," Hammel lamented.
Hammel, who allowed four earned runs on seven hits in seven innings in yet another solid start by the Rockies' rotation, said he doubted he would miss any time because of his bruised calf.
"I'm not looking forward to waking up tomorrow, but if I'm able to go back out after it happened, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to miss a start," he said.
The Rockies, who saw their team batting average dip into the low .230s, took solace in the long balls, hoping they'll portend a bigger breakout at the plate.
"Pelfrey's a good pitcher," Tulowitzki said. "We put some good swings on him. That was encouraging. But the double by him really I think is one of those plays where momentum really swings the other direction. You're not expecting the pitcher to put a double in the gap, let alone two RBIs in a big situation.
"It's like a great defensive play, something that puts momentum in the other dugout, and I think as a team we went downhill right from there," he added.
In the bottom of the fourth, third baseman David Wright and first baseman Davis collided in front of the mound while going after Tulowitzki's high popup. Wright made the catch but Davis strained his left calf on the play. Davis stayed in the game but left an inning later.
Gonzalez made it 4-3 in the sixth when he sent Pelfrey's fastball into the rock pile in straightaway center for his third homer of the year and first at home.
"I have the best seat in the house and this is the first time I've seen glimpses of CarGo from last year, so that's encouraging," Tulowitzki said.
With two outs, nobody on and a 2-2 count on Dexter Fowler, the game was delayed by rain and lightning for 50 minutes in the bottom of the seventh.
A member of the grounds crew was briefly trapped under the tarp, tripping while helping to pull the tarp over the infield and was quickly smothered as the rest of the crew continued on. Once the tarp was flush, he crawled his way out to safety and smiled.
When the game resumed, reliever Jason Isringhausen replaced Pelfrey and Fowler fouled his first pitch off his left knee and had to leave the game with a painful bruise. He was replaced by Ryan Spilborghs, who drew a walk before Isringhausen struck out Jonathan Herrera to end the inning.
Isringhausen and Tim Byrdak combined for a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
"Good to finally get a win against these guys and hopefully win the series tomorrow," Wright said. "It's a very good team and when Tulo and Gonzalez get going, they're going to be that much more dangerous."
Notes: Rockies RHP Esmil Rogers, on the 15-day DL with a right lat muscle strain, experienced pain while throwing Tuesday and was going to get an MRI. ... Mets manager Terry Collins said Wright, 1 for 8 in this series but 35 for 99 lifetime at Coors Field, will get the day off Wednesday when the teams play their series finale.
___
Arnie Stapleton can be reached at http://twitter.com/arniestapleton
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.