Mets grab early lead, hand Rockies 7th straight loss

Brett Baty hit a bases-clearing triple in a four-run first inning, Kodai Senga pitched 6 1/3 strong innings and the host New York Mets cruised to an 8-2 victory over the MLB-worst Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
Brandon Nimmo hit a two-run homer and Juan Soto added a homer off Colorado’s Antonio Senzatela (1-10) when the Mets hit back-to-back drives in the fourth. Tyrone Taylor added an RBI single in the first and Jeff McNeil homered in the eighth as the Mets won for the sixth time in seven games.
Francisco Lindor reached base four times as the Mets finished with 11 hits and moved a season-high 14 games over .500.
Senga (6-3) allowed two run-scoring hits in his second-longest outing this season. The right-hander struck out seven and walked two in an outing that began when Colorado leadoff hitter Jordan Beck struck out on a pitch clock violation.
Ezequiel Tovar homered after Beck’s game-opening strikeout and Thairo Estrada had an RBI single that chased Senga in the seventh.
Senzatela allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings. The right-hander struck out two, walked two and lost his seventh straight start.
After Tovar homered to left on Senga’s full-count forkball, the Mets took a 4-1 lead in the bottom half on shaky defense by center fielder Brenton Doyle.
Baty lifted a fly ball to left-center field that carried over Doyle’s head and resulted in a triple when the ball went off the fence. After Senzatela got the second out, Taylor hit a sinking liner to right-center and Doyle could not get there in time.
In the fourth, Nimmo made it 6-1 by blasting a 1-1 sinker to right-center and Soto homered for the first time since May 9 by driving the next pitch, also a sinker, over the center field seats.
Senga retired 17 straight before walking Tovar to start the seventh. After Estrada singled, the Rockies loaded the bases but Jose Butto struck out Kyle Farmer to keep the lead at 7-2.
Held to three hits, the Rockies lost their seventh straight and fell to 2-16 under interim manager Warren Schaeffer. Colorado also extended a major league record with its 22nd straight series loss.