Mets Finally Won a Road Series and They're Headed to Denver to Face a Rockies Team Falling Apart

The New York Mets needed a win. Any win. So when they took two of three from the Los Angeles Angels to secure their first road series victory since early April against the San Francisco Giants, manager Carlos Mendoza wasn't about to downplay the moment. "That's our goal, to start winning series," he said. "That's what it's going to take for us to get to where we want to be. One series at a time, one game at a time."

After crawling to a 10-21 start, the Mets showed some life on Sunday. Mark Vientos went deep twice, each shot a two-run bomb, powering New York to a 5-1 win. The problem? The Mets have scored only 118 runs all year. Only the Giants, with 106, have been worse at putting balls in play.

Vientos Gets It, But the Whole Lineup Needs to Wake Up

"I think that's the name of the game, putting yesterday in the past," Vientos said after his performance. "We have to focus on the right now." It's the right mindset, but New York will need more than one guy swinging hot when they hit Denver for a three-game set starting Monday against the Colorado Rockies.

The Mets are bringing an opener to start, with David Peterson following. Peterson is a 30-year-old left-hander from Denver itself, but he's been a disaster this year. He's 0-4 with a 6.53 ERA and hasn't made it past the fourth inning in three straight starts. Last time out against Washington, he got torched for seven runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings during a 14-2 loss. This is his fifth start against his hometown team. In the first four, he went 3-1 with a 1.99 ERA.

Colorado's Pitching Got Shredded, but Sugano Is a Different Story

If New York's offense is struggling, Colorado's pitching staff just got obliterated. The Rockies allowed 28 runs across a three-game sweep by the Atlanta Braves. That's not a disaster, that's a catastrophe. Denver has also dropped five of its last six overall, though they did sweep the Mets from April 24-26.

The Rockies will counter with Tomoyuki Sugano, a 36-year-old right-hander who signed as an offseason addition. Sugano is 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA and looked sharp last time out, throwing 5 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts in a 13-2 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer was impressed. "He set the tone, kept them off-balanced, relied on his offspeed pitches," Schaeffer said. "He was really good, efficient, just like he's been all year."

Sugano went 10-10 with a 4.64 ERA last year as a rookie with Baltimore. He's faced the Mets once before, giving up three runs over six innings in a 7-3 win on July 10. Monday's game was moved up three hours because of weather concerns.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.