NEW YORK — Mets starter Kodai Senga made one mistake.
After the lead-off batter struck out, he hung a seventh pitch forkball too high in the middle of the strike zone. Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar didn’t miss it, putting Colorado up 1-0 on a solo home run.
From that point on, Senga was unhittable — at least for a little while. After the home run, the right-hander retired 17 straight batters before allowing a baserunner via walk in the seventh inning.
After retiring his 18th batter without a hit, he allowed an RBI single to second baseman Thairo Estrada, a former Yankee, his last batter of the evening.
In the Mets’ 8-2 win over the Rockies, Senga allowed two runs on two hits and two walks, collecting seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
As Senga walked off the mound, having been replaced by reliever José Buttó, he received a warm ovation from the crowd.
Combined, Buttó and Chris Devenski didn’t allow a run in the final 2 2/3 innings of the game.
The Mets answered back after falling 1-0 on a first-inning home run by the Rockies. The first three batters got on, setting up third baseman Brett Baty, who lined a triple off the wall in right-center to put New York ahead.
Including Saturday, when Baty went 18-for-61, the young infielder is batting .295 with a .929 OPS, including seven extra-base hits and 16 RBIs since being recalled from Triple-A on May 5.
Center fielder Tyrone Taylor followed with a two-out single, scoring Baty from third, extending the Mets’ lead to 4-1.
In the fourth inning, outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto went back-to-back to put the Mets ahead 7-1. Nimmo’s two-out, two-run blast traveled 417 feet to center, landing in the Rookies’ bullpen.
Since returning from a neck injury that sidelined him for three days, Nimmo has been on fire. In five games, he’s 8-for-19 (.421 batting average) with two extra-base hits.
Soto’s home run, a solo blast 404 feet to center, was his ninth of the season. It was his first home run since May 9, more than three weeks ago.
In the eighth inning, second baseman Jeff McNeil hit a solo home run into the Mets’ bullpen to give New York a comfortable 8-2 lead.
