Ian Desmond got plunked square in the back by a pitch from New York Mets rookie Drew Gagnon immediately after two colossal Colorado homers, leading to a bench-clearing scrum late in the Rockies’ 5-1 victory Friday night.
The bullpens emptied and players from both sides milled close together during two separate dustups, but there did not appear to be any serious pushing or shoving and no punches were thrown.
Antonio Senzatela (5-4) outpitched Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, and Colorado got homers from David Dahl and Daniel Murphy in a three-run eighth inning. That made it 5-1, and the Rockies went on to their 10th win in 12 games.
Desmond clearly took exception to getting hit by Gagnon’s 92 mph fastball three pitches after Murphy shuffled up the first base line with bat in hand while taking a long look at his solo shot into the second deck in right field against his former team.
Gagnon picked up the ball that hit Desmond and rolled it in his direction as Desmond jawed with him and then other Mets players. An angry Murphy was one of the first Rockies to bounce out of the dugout onto the field.
After the teams finally returned to their dugouts, plate umpire Chris Segal warned both benches and there was no further trouble.
Two batters before Murphy connected, Dahl hit a titanic two-run homer off Gagnon deep into the second deck in right to make it 4-1.
Michael Conforto homered for the Mets, and deGrom (3-6) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out 10.
Raimel Tapia hit an RBI double off deGrom in the third, and Desmond added a run-scoring single in the fourth.
Senzatela gave up one run and four hits in six innings without a strikeout. Rockies closer Wade Davis, just off the injured list, worked a scoreless ninth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rockies: Davis and RF Charlie Blackmon, both three-time All-Stars, were reinstated from the injured list. Blackmon was available off the bench and expected to start Saturday night. Blackmon had been sidelined since May 24 with a strained right calf, while Davis had been out since May 19 with a left oblique strain. To make room on the roster, Colorado optioned 2B-OF Garrett Hampson to Triple-A Albuquerque, and LHP Chris Rusin was designated for assignment.
Mets: 2B Robinson Canó sat out his second consecutive game. The 36-year-old Canó aggravated his left quadriceps Wednesday night, hours after coming off the injured list. He’d been sidelined since May 22 because of a strained left quadriceps. New York manager Mickey Callaway said the team put Canó through a pregame workout Friday and it was possible he could be available off the bench. The Mets were still trying to determine whether Canó will need to go back on the IL, according to Callaway. ... OF Brandon Nimmo (neck) began a rehab assignment Thursday night with Class A St. Lucie but there is no target date yet for his return. Nimmo went 2 for 4 as the DH and scored a run. “Sounds like he came out of it really well,” Callaway said. Nimmo was set to be the DH again and will need to play the field before coming off the injured list. “So it’s going to be a little bit of a process,” Callaway said.
UP NEXT
Rockies: RHP Jon Gray (5-4, 4.11 ERA) pitches Saturday night after throwing six shutout innings of two-hit ball to beat Toronto last time out. Gray is 1-1 with a 9.72 ERA in four starts against the Mets.
Mets: LHP Steven Matz (4-4, 3.97 ERA) is coming off a 7-1 loss Sunday in Arizona. He is 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA in his past six games at home, and New York has won all of them. Matz is 0-4 with a 6.85 ERA in five starts against Colorado.
