It Takes a Little Sacrifice to Finally Beat the Rockies

Ike Davis's injury overshadows first win over Rockies.

The Rockies and Mets had played five times entering Tuesday night's game in Denver.

All five of those games ended with the Rockies slapping backs and shaking hands while the Mets slunk off to the clubhouse to lick their wounds. The first four wins featured Herculean efforts by Troy Tulowitzki while number five took place in a cone of silence so typical of this Mets season.

The situation was overripe for a change and it finally came on Tuesday. The Mets won the game 4-3 despite another Tulowitzki home run and things played out in a much louder fashion than on Monday night.

Winning was good, no doubt about that, but the increase in volume was nothing to be happy about. After a season that saw guys like Chris Young, Jason Bay and Angel Pagan come down with injuries behind the curtains, another key Met cog went down in the middle of the diamond.

Ike Davis, who drove in the first two runs of the night on a bases loaded single, collided with David Wright as they tracked a pop-up behind the pitcher's mound. The initial fear was for Wright as he is dealing with back pains that will keep him out of the lineup on Wednesday, but it was Davis who came out worse for the wear. 

The team is calling it a sprained calf muscle and what it means for the near future is a bit hazy. Davis spoke about trying to play Wednesday, but he did it while wearing a protective boot and with talk of a possible MRI floating through the air.

Officially he's day-to-day, but anyone with a history of watching the Mets is going to be holding their breath until that second day comes to pass. There have been a few bright spots for the Mets this season, but Davis has been the only one whose good play isn't tempered by discussion of what it might bring the Mets once he hits the trade market.

He's the guy who represents the possibility that the Mets can actually clear out the detritus and build a winning team from within their own organization. A calf injury doesn't change that, obviously, but a lineup without Davis is one that feels pretty empty, which is a testament to what he means to the franchise already.

The two teams are back at it Wednesday and a winning streak will likely be up to an infield featuring Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner and Willie Harris. The mind shudders to consider what sacrifice would be necessary to beat the Rockies again with those guys playing major roles.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.

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