Verlander toughs it out despite struggles and a tricky comebacker

DENVER -- In the third inning of the Mets’ 10-7 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field on Saturday night, Justin Verlander was struck by a 97.2 mph comebacker off the bat of Colorado’s Alan Trejo. Remarkably, the ball ricocheted off not one, but both of his calves.

What are the odds of that?

“Well, they seem pretty good for me this year,” Verlander quipped. “I don’t know if you’ve been following me all year, but that was like, my seventh time getting hit in the leg. Not fun.”

“Not fun” is one way to describe Verlander’s first start at Coors Field in nearly six years -- the last time he took the mound here was on Aug. 30, 2017, and it was his final game with the Tigers before he was dealt to the Astros and helped Houston win the franchise’s first World Series title.

Verlander was hit hard for six runs on nine hits over five innings Saturday, with five of those runs coming in the second. He walked one and struck out two.

But it was what the decorated right-hander did after that disastrous frame, and specifically after being hit in the calves in the third, that gave us a window into the type of competitor and teammate he is even after winning three Cy Young Awards over 17 MLB seasons.

“He knew how important every inning he could give us was for us being able to stay on our feet in the bullpen,” manager Buck Showalter said. “ … He took a ball off the [calves] and wanted to continue. I can’t tell you how many people would’ve pulled the sand in around ’em and lived to fight another day.

“But it was very important to him to give us some innings. He was getting ready to go back out there for the sixth, but I kind of kept that from happening [due to his pitch count of 79].”

Following an eight-pitch first inning, Verlander slogged through a frame in which he got the first out but then proceeded to surrender three singles and a double before issuing a walk, which was followed by another double and a sacrifice fly. Many of the balls were hit softly and found grass in the enormous Coors outfield. Others were hit hard, particularly the two doubles.

The Mets found themselves trailing, 6-0, but stormed back thanks in large part to a pair of home runs. The first was a fourth-inning solo shot by Pete Alonso; it was his Major League-leading 20th of the season in his 53rd game, making him the second-fastest Met to reach 20 homers in a season, behind Dave Kingman’s 51 games in 1976.

The other was from rookie catcher Francisco Álvarez, whose marvelous May continued with his sixth homer of the month, a three-run shot to tie it in the sixth inning. Alvarez also doubled earlier in the game but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple.

Verlander talked about “giving the team a chance” despite the early deficit. He did just that while simultaneously saving some bullpen mileage in the altitude of Denver, which can be more taxing on the body.

The moment of decision on whether to continue came when Showalter and a Mets trainer went out to talk with Verlander after he was hit by the comebacker.

“They were asking me how I felt, and I told Buck I felt fine and it was just a [tough] couple innings and I would like to give us some more depth and hopefully have our boys fight back,” Verlander said. “ … You never want to give up six runs in three innings, but the fallback plan immediately is, let’s figure it out and find a way to give us some depth and not overtax the bullpen, and give us a chance to win tomorrow.”

With a resume like Verlander’s, no one would’ve faulted the 40-year-old if he called it a night after having a rough outing. But he was immediately thinking about the ramifications.

“He had given us everything he could possibly have given us,” Showalter said of the decision to go to his bullpen in the sixth. “ … He’s never gonna ask out of a game. That’s just the way he’s wired.”