DENVER — The colder it got Wednesday night, the louder the Mets bats crackled.
By the middle innings, the temperature had dropped to 37 degrees at Coors Field and the Mets were rolling. All that remained was for the bullpen to secure the final outs.
The Mets survived for a 10-5 victory over the Rockies, giving them three straight wins and four in their past five games. They will try for their first series sweep of the season today.
“It’s been tough times definitely,” Juan Soto said, referring to the Mets’ NL-worst record entering play. “But we come with the same mentality every day.”
After a postponement from Tuesday’s wintry mix that included snow that coated the field, the Mets broke out offensively, racing to an eight-run lead in the sixth inning.
The Rockies rallied later — most notably against Tobias Myers and Sean Manaea — but manager Carlos Mendoza’s high-leverage relievers preserved the victory.
It wasn’t the altitude ball as much as solid contact that carried the Mets, who had 15 hits.
Marcus Semien led the rampage with a 4-for-5 performance that included hits in two big rallies before smashing a two-run homer in the ninth. Mark Vientos and Luis Torrens were the only starters without a hit.
“You want to have good games in this ballpark, it’s a good place to hit,” Semien said. “It’s a big outfield and the ball carries.”
Freddy Peralta grinded through five shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks with one strikeout. It was Peralta’s first start this season in which he didn’t surrender a run. Peralta ran deep into counts and was removed after 91 pitches.
“Crazy weather,” Peralta said when asked about the difficulty of pitching in such cold conditions. “Hard to breathe, and 35 degrees is crazy.”
Soto, batting leadoff for the second straight game — and the second time in his Mets tenure — hit the night’s third pitch for a homer. The blast was his fourth this season and the first leadoff homer of his career.
Carson Benge’s two-run single against Michael Lorenzen in the fourth was the big hit in an inning when the Mets scored three runs to take a 4-0 lead.
Brett Baty walked leading off and Semien doubled before Benge delivered, continuing his recent surge. He entered the day 10-for-23 (.323) over his previous nine starts. Francisco Alvarez extended the rally with a single before Torrens’ groundout brought in the Mets’ fourth run.
The Rockies produced plenty of early traffic against Peralta, but the right-hander wouldn’t break.
In the second, he allowed consecutive singles to TJ Rumfield and Tyler Freeman leading off the inning before recording three straight outs. In the third he allowed a single and a walk — with a wild pitch mixed in — before retiring Rumfield for the final out. In the fourth, Troy Johnston singled and Kyle Karros walked before Peralta recorded two straight outs to escape.
Benge’s sixth-inning double helped fuel another rally. Alvarez followed with an RBI single and Torrens got plunked to load the bases.
Soto’s sacrifice fly extended the lead to 6-0 before Bo Bichette delivered an RBI single. Tyrone Taylor’s RBI fielder’s choice widened the gulf to eight runs.
Myers entered for the sixth and surrendered a leadoff homer to Rumfield. Freeman and Johnston followed with consecutive doubles for another run before Jake McCarthy launched a two-run homer that sliced the Mets lead to 8-4.
Myers never completed the inning. He surrendered a single to Edouard Julien before Brooks Raley was summoned to get the final out.
Raley got the Mets through the seventh before Luke Weaver pitched a scoreless eighth and Manaea stumbled in the ninth. Devin Williams had warmed up in the bullpen earlier, but once the Mets tacked on with Semien’s homer in the ninth the lefty Manaea was deployed. Manaea, relegated to mop-up duty because of his struggles, recorded only one out and was removed after allowing three hits and plunking a batter.
Williams entered with the bases loaded and struck out Jordan Beck and Karros in succession to end the game.
“It’s been a tough stretch for Sean,” Mendoza said. “He’s too good of a pitcher. He’s very important for us. We have to continue to support him, work with him, especially in moments like this.”
