NEW YORK – Rockies’ manager Walt Weiss affirmed that Christian Bergman has earned his place in the conversation for next year’s starting rotation.
That vote of confidence came even before the rookie’s impressive outing Tuesday night against the New York Mets. Too bad for Bergman, he matched up against one of the National League’s best young pitchers.
Jacob deGrom limited the Rockies to three hits over eight innings, and New York beat Colorado for the fifth consecutive time at Citi Field, 2-0.
“Bergy did another nice job,” Weiss said. “He’s been one of those guys who has come up and been a bright spot for us. He competes pretty well.”
Bergman (2-3) yielded six hits – including a run-scoring double to Curtis Granderson and an RBI single to Juan Lagares – in six innings of his seventh major league start. He didn’t walk a batter for his second consecutive start.
The two mistakes were enough for deGrom (8-6), who struck out nine without walking a batter. He didn’t allow a baserunner after Nolan Arenado’s one-out double in the fourth – retiring his final 14 batters.
“He’s got one of those fastballs that it’s not easy to hit if you haven’t faced him, and he was locating pretty well,” said DJ LeMahieu, who was 0-for-3 with 2 Ks against deGrom.
The Rockies had a chance to take a lead in the ninth, when Mets closer Jenrry Mejia loaded the bases on hits by Charlie Blackmon and Justin Morneau and a walk to Arenado. But reliever Josh Edgin struck out Corey Dickerson, and Jeurys Familia got Wilin Rosario to ground out for his fifth save.
After the game, the Mets announced captain David Wright would be shut down for the remainder of the season because of inflammation in his left shoulder. The third baseman had a magnetic resonance imaging examination Tuesday and didn’t play.
“It’s disappointing,” Wright said after the game. “But I think for me personally, making sure I end this year as healthy as can be and then do what I can, starting with this rehab program, to ensure that I will be as close to 100 percent for spring training is the goal.”
Matt den Dekker’s double with one out in the fifth gave the Mets their first runner in scoring position against Bergman, and they came through. After deGrom grounded out, Lagares singled in the game’s first run.
Granderson drove in another two-out run with a double off Bergman in the sixth.
“It came down to two pitches, and they capitalized on it,” Bergman said.
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Weiss said first baseman/outfielder Ben Paulsen has shown no ill effects from being hit in the elbow by a pitch Sunday.
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Two pitchers who made their major league debuts this season will start the finale of this three-game series: Colorado lefty Tyler Matzek (5-9) is set to make his 17th start; Mets righty Rafael Montero – 0-3 with 4.71 ERA at Citi Field – will be making his seventh career start.
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A day after returning from a left hamstring strain, Michael Cuddyer made a spectacular diving catch on deGrom’s sinking liner in the third inning. The right fielder ran a long way before laying out to make the grab in right-center.
“That was a good sign,” Weiss said. “He made a heck of a play on that, and no issues.”
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Collins is a fan of general manager Sandy Alderson’s idea to bring in the right-field fence at Citi Field again. Collins said moving in the fence that is 375 feet from home plate would help players such as Lucas Duda, Granderson and Wright.
“I think it’s going to help us a little bit, confidence-wise,” Collins said.
