After rain bumped the Saturday matchup from the MLB schedule, the Colorado Rockies and New York Mets played two on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.
Game 1: Rockies 3, Mets 1
The Rockies started the day with a victory to lock up a series win on the road.
Putting the ‘K’ in New York
Strikeouts were a key theme across the first few innings.
After Nolan McLean struck out two batters in a quick top of the first, the game got off to a dicey start for José Quintana. Walks have plagued Quintana in 2026 and he struggled to find control early, walking Bo Bichette
before striking out Juan Soto and then walking Luis Robert Jr. to put runners on first and second.
A Mark Vientos single loaded the bases with one out. Quintana responded by striking out Marcus Semien. Brett Baty proved to be a difficult final out, working his at-bat to a full count. The sixth pitch was initially called a ball to walk in a run, but a successful Brett Sullivan ABS challenge overturned the ruling, sparing the Rockies with a third strikeout for Quintana.
McLean continued to pile up the strikeouts as well, including the 1,000th strikeout of his career. He matched his first inning total, striking out two more each inning in the second and the third. McLean looked sharp mixing his pitches for those six strikeouts, with two Ks coming on curveballs, two on four-seam fastballs, one on a sinker, and one on a sweeper. He also picked off Jake McCarthy at first base in the bottom of the third.
Ducks on the pond, only one gets home
The Rockies found their spark in the fourth inning. With only one hit through the first three innings, they got to work with three more.
Edouard Julien hit a line drive leadoff single, before Mickey Moniak moved him to third with a single of his own. McClean would then walk TJ Rumfield to load the bases with no outs. Troy Johnston seized the opportunity, hitting an RBI single to right.
Unfortunately, that would be all the Rockies could muster. McClean bounced back to strike out Kyle Karros, before fielding a Sullivan grounder to turn a 1-2-3 double play to get out of trouble.
The pitchers (mostly) settled in
Coming into the game, the question was how Quintana and McClean might respond after they both struggled in their last outings. The answer was a low-scoring pitchers duel, plenty of quick innings, and several jams navigated.
Getting out of his rough first inning, Quintana would cruise, sitting down 11 straight batters in a masterful performance.
Bad news: he couldn’t make it 12 straight. Tyron Taylor kicked off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer to left center to tie things up at 1-1.
Good news: That would be the only run Quintana would give up all day.
The Rockies got to McClean in the sixth, ending his day by putting him in a pickle. A Julien leadoff double, a Moniak walk, and a throwing error to put Rumfield on first would load the bases and force the Mets to go to the bullpen. McLean’s day ended at 5.0 innings pitched, with five hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts.
Huascar Brazobán entered and gave up a run — charged to McLean — on a double play ground ball. He and the Mets would get out of the inning trailing just 2-1 after Karros hit a grounder for the third out.
Quintana would also call it a day in the sixth after 5.1 innings pitched, with one run given up on just two hits alongside five strikeouts and two walks.
Late ups and downs
Leadoff hits were a common theme for the Rockies today, and it worked out for some seventh inning insurance. Sullivan hit a double out to right field and was brought home by a McCarthy RBI single, giving the Rockies a 3-1 lead. Juan Mejia, who came in to relieve Quintana, kept things clean by sitting down Semien, Baty, and Taylor to end the inning.
Things got a little too close for comfort in the eighth. It was three straight outs for the Rockies offense in the top, followed by three straight baserunners for the Mets offense in the bottom.
Jaden Hill replaced Mejia and, after getting the first out, quickly found himself in trouble. He surrendered back-to-back singles to Francisco Alvarez and Bichette, before walking Soto to (once again) load the bases. But (also once again) the Rockies would prove resilient. Hill would get Robert Jr. to pop out on a 1-2 count and lock in to strike out Vientos, getting him to swing on a slider down in the zone.
Start spreadin’ the news!
The Rockies went on the road and secured their third series win of the season behind Quintana’s best outing of the year. Quintana’s first win in 2026 came with season-lows for hits and runs given up. He had more strikeouts today (five) than he had thrown all year (four across three games).
Both teams had plenty of chances, including multiple bases loaded opportunities, but neither could fully capitalize. Each team left 13 runners on base. The game ultimately was a classic Citi Field showdown, decided one run at a time in a low-scoring affair with the Rockies getting runs across when they needed them most.
Game 2: Rockies 3, Mets 0
Less than an hour after game one, the Rockies were back on the field to face the Mets again. With a series win already locked down, the Rockies rode a dominant day from their pitching staff to a sweep in Flushing.
Dominant Dollander
For the first time this season, right-handed pitcher Chase Dollander started a game. After operating largely as a bulk reliever with an opener through his first six appearances, Dollander was given the nod for the second game in today’s doubleheader.
He then made a case to stay in the rotation.
Dollander was a little shaky with his command early. However, he ended up only giving up two hits and two walks through his first three innings of work. He then settled into a powerful rhythm. Dollander ended up pitching seven shutout innings on 105 pitches while giving up five hits and two walks while striking out seven hitters. The seven innings were a career high for Dollander.
It looked like manager Warren Schaeffer was coming to get Dollander when he gave up a two out single in the bottom of the seventh. However, Dollander gestured to the dugout as if to ask for one more batter to end the inning. Dollander then induced a pop-out to end the inning.
With Ryan Feltner out for an unknown period of time with right ulnar nerve inflammation, it might be time for Dollander to take his place in the rotation.
Early offense sputtered out
The Rockies’ offense wasn’t exactly dominant, nor was it the real reason the Rockies won this game. In fact, the Rockies had just one total hit after the third inning. That hit came off the bat of Mickey Moniak, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Tyler Freeman wore a pitch and TJ Rumfield drew a walk to set up the Rockies in the top of the second inning. Kyle Karros grounded into a force-out to advance Freeman to third, and Freeman then scored on a single off the bat of Troy Johnston.
In the top of the third, Edouard Julien singled to star the inning before Hunter Goodman gave the ball a ride over the fence for his seventh home run of the season.
Making things easy for the bullpen
Thanks to strong outings in the first game of the doubleheader and Chase Dollander’s seven inning start, the Rockies bullpen had just one job in this game: get it done in two innings.
Seth Halvorsen came in first, making his second appearance with the Rockies this season. He allowed no hits, but did issue a walk in a scoreless eighth inning. He then gave way to Zach Agnos, who gave up a double but kept the Mets off the board and earned his second save of the season.
Now the bullpen gets an additional day of rest tomorrow before the Rockies start their next series.
Up Next
The Rockies get a day of rest Monday before heading to Ohio for a three game series with the Cincinnati Reds. Tomoyuki Sugano (2-1, 3.42 ERA) and Chase Burns (2-1, 2.57 ERA) are expected to start the first game of the series on Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. MDT.
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