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Holliday sparks comeback as Rockies top Mets

May 24, 2008 - 6:29 AM By Paul Willis PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) - Seemingly always surrounded by drama, the New York Mets found a dramatic way to lose Friday night.

Matt Holliday belted a home run in the ninth inning to tie the game and then delivered the game-winning base hit in the 13th as the Colorado Rockies posted a 6-5 comeback victory over the Mets in the opener of a three-game series.

"It's tough because we thought we had it in the bag," Mets manager Willie Randolph said.

The Mets carried a 5-4 lead into the ninth, and with the ball in the hands of seemingly impenetrable closer Billy Wagner, appeared to be poised to snap a four-game losing streak.

Wagner, who had not allowed an earned run in 18 innings this season, was greeted by the reigning National League batting champion, who launched Wagner's first pitch over the center field wall to force extra innings.

"I was looking for a fastball," Holliday said. "Obviously, a guy with that type of stuff, you want to get him early in the count."

"He hit the ball pretty good," Randolph said. "I was praying for it to get down, but the ball was carrying all night. It was a laser, a line drive. It was a good hitter hitting a good pitch."

It marked the first blown save in 10 chances for Wagner this season.

Holliday's next bit of heroics occurred after Jon Herrera led off the 13th with a single against New York closer Aaron Heilman (0-1) and then was sacrificed to second by Jeff Francis, a starting pitcher making his pinch-hitting debut.

Holliday delivered a two-out single to right to score Herrera and make a winner of Taylor Buchholz (2-2), who tossed three scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts.

"He was able to keep good focus and just keep looking to help make a difference," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "And he was able to in a big way."

Randolph said he chose to face Holliday instead of walking him with first base open because he was 0-for-4 lifetime against Heilman and the following hitter, Garrett Atkins, had been 2-for-3.

"When you play out of division guys, you never really know how you fare against him, so I didn't know the numbers," Holliday said. "But he's a good pitcher. That's probably why I had never gotten a hit off of him."

After Wagner faltered, the Mets had a prime opportunity to regain the lead in top of the 10th when speedster Jose Reyes led off with a hustling double. Reyes, though, promptly was picked off by Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes.

"The way we've been playing lately, it stuns you a little bit," Randolph said. "You don't expect to get picked off in that situation. You can't fall into that trap."

The Mets gained a 5-4 lead in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to shallow left field by Reyes that scored the fleet Endy Chavez from third.

Each starting pitcher struggled in different facets. For Mets lefthander Oliver Perez, it was his erratic control. He walked a career-high eight batters over five-plus frames.

He departed with a 4-2 lead and two runners aboard, but Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes ripped a double down the left-field line to score both against reliever Joe Smith.

Rockies rookie Greg Reynolds cruised into the sixth with a 2-1 lead, but surrendered back-to-back home runs to Carlos Delgado and Fernando Tatis. Delgado's two-run shot to center marked his 438th blast of his career, matching him with Andre Dawson for 35th all-time.

Colorado took an early 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Garrett Atkins in the bottom of the first, but the Rockies failed on numerous occasions in the early innings to add to the lead despite Perez's wildness. Colorado stranded eight runners in the first five innings.