Marcus Stroman goes eight, Edwin Diaz and James McCann slam the door in Mets' win over Rockies
DENVER — The name of the game was efficiency as Marcus Stroman pitched to contact, induced ground balls and hurled eight one-run innings in his third start of the year.
Stroman allowed just three hits and retired 16 of his final 18 batters in the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Rockies in the series finale at Coors Field on Sunday. Of his 90 pitches, 62 were strikes as the right-hander lowered his season ERA to 0.90.
The Mets improved to 7-4 on the season after Edwin Diaz collected his second save in as many days, though not without theatrics. Diaz gave up a two-out single to Trevor Story in the ninth and he attempted to steal second, but James McCann fired a perfect throw to Lindor who tagged Story for the final out of the game.
Stroman, 29, nearly became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw back-to-back scoreless starts of six-plus innings at Coors Field. In Stroman’s last time at the hitter-friendly ballpark, he pitched seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts on Sept. 17, 2019. On Sunday, he took a scoreless outing into the seventh inning, but the lone run he allowed after back-to-back base hits took that feat away, though he continued his trend of pitching well in Denver.
Though Stroman induced at least one groundout in each of his eight frames, Trevor Story took the right-hander to the warning track in the fourth inning. Stroman received defensive help from his improved outfielder, Brandon Nimmo.
It was just a few months ago when the Mets were one of the finalists for George Springer before the outfielder landed on the Blue Jays alongside Steven Matz. Then, a contingent of Mets fans were eager to replace Nimmo, who had the worst Ultimate Zone Rating (-3.9) among Mets outfielders in 2020. Instead, the Mets backed out on Springer and backed up Nimmo by acquiring two natural center fielders in Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora.
On Sunday, Nimmo didn’t need their help. The center fielder tracked a deep fly ball off the bat of Story and extended his arm just in time to make a nice catch before gently colliding into the wall. Stroman raised both of his arms in appreciation for the assist. Nimmo collected a leadoff single and stolen base in the eighth inning and extended his on-base streak to 24 straight games.
Stroman, who has a Glove Glove on his resume, helped himself out with a smooth behind-the-back grab in the eighth inning. A bit unsteady on the grass, he quickly got rid of the ball on a shaky throw with Josh Fuentes sprinting toward first. The ball trickled toward Pete Alonso, and after seven very slow hops, Alonso fully stretched out to grab it for the first out of the inning. Stroman was particularly amped up after the play, and the inning.
