The Mets bats took advantage of the thin Rocky Mountain air to slug three home runs and score eight runs in their 8-1 victory over Colorado.

Ronny Mauricio finally got his first hit of the season in his final at-bat of the series opener and he picked up where he left off with an absolute laser beam to open the scoring off of Colorado starter Germán Márquez. The ball went very far, very fast. It traveled 456 feet to the third deck and registered at 110 mph off the bat. It’s the longest home run hit by a Met so far this season. It remains to be seen whether or not Mauricio can stick at the major league level but when he gets a hold of one it is really run to watch.

After the Rockies briefly tied it up, the Mets went to Jared as Jared Young hit a solo shot to lead off the fifth inning. They tacked on another run on a RBI single by Brandon Nimmo that inning but in the sixth it was Jeff McNeil’s turn to leave the yard for the team’s third home run of the day.

The offense finally broke it open in the seventh when they scored three runs, two of which were driven in by Luis Torrens with a clutch two-out RBI single. They tacked on a run in the eighth when Brandon Nimmo’s double brought home Luisangel Acuña who was serving as a pinch-runner for Francisco Lindor which was notable since it was Lindor’s first start since breaking his toe. His return to the lineup was a successful one, broken pinkie toe and all. He went 3-for-5 with two stolen bases and did not seem bothered by the injury.

While the team did score eight runs this was not a well played defensive game by Colorado but the Mets did take advantage of the sloppy play.

Clay Holmes got the start and had traffic almost every inning of his outing but overall it was a successful start for the converted reliever. His only blemish was a solo home run to Ryan McMahon in the fourth that briefly tied the game. He had to do some heavy lifting in the first and third innings when the first two batters reached base in both innings. In the first he wiggled out of it with a lineout, flyout, and strikeout and in the third a key double play turned by the infield helped him maneuver out of trouble.

Despite having traffic in every inning except the second, Holmes pitched six innings, allowed just the one run, he struck out six, and did not walk any batters. He lowered his ERA to 2.95 which now puts four Mets starters at ERAs under the 3.00 mark.

The big offensive output helped the Mets stay away from their high-leverage relievers but both José Buttó and José Castillo had no issues shutting the door on another win over the Rockies. It was an important win to pick up since the Phillies lost to the Pirates and the Mets were able to extend their lead in the National League East. They now look to sweep both the series and the season series with Tylor Megill on the mound for the finale.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue
Purple Row

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

Fangraphs.com

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Clay Holmes +26.7% WPA
Big Mets loser: Pete Alonso -12.3% WPA
Mets pitchers: +29.3% WPA
Mets hitters: +20.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jared Young home run in fifth
Teh sux0rest play: Ryan McMahon home run in fourth